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Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

techxplore.com

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Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#11

Post by dsalfdslfdsa »

bee_rider wrote: post #10
Cheer2171 wrote: post #2

> A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door open for a potential general strike down the road. Despite the clickbait earlier in the article about disruption to supply chains, this seems quite small.

Just for completeness: > A major union representing tens of thousands of people at South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that workers will go on strike for the first time ever, potentially threatening key global semiconductor supply chains. If somehow a company becomes 1) so crucial to the global semiconductor supply chain that a blip in their system threatens the whole thing 2) so poorly managed…

>That’s just totally unsustainable and nuts.

That's a very good description of our current semiconductor and shiny tech hardware supply chain.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#12

Post by dsalfdslfdsa »

Retric wrote: post #7
dsalfdslfdsa wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung makes up nearly a quarter of South Korea's GDP. I imagine this has a significant impact on the viability of quitting for other work.

Samsung has 0.1 million employees in SK out of a population of 52 million. It’s big, but that also makes it more difficult for them to replace people who quit.

Given the infamous demand for jobs at Samsung, this is a very one-sided negotiation.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#13

Post by bee_rider »

djha-skin wrote: post #3
Cheer2171 wrote: post #2

> A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door open for a potential general strike down the road. Despite the clickbait earlier in the article about disruption to supply chains, this seems quite small.

Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. Is it really a strike at that point? The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real.

I’m slightly confused by this. They say they are using their leave, but what if management says… no? I mean, it isn’t a strike if they are asking management, but I don’t see how they can say they are using their leave without approval.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#14

Post by bee_rider »

dsalfdslfdsa wrote: post #11
bee_rider wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just for completeness: > A major union representing tens of thousands of people at South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that workers will go on strike for the first time ever, potentially threatening key global semiconductor supply chains. If somehow a company becomes 1) so crucial to the global semiconductor supply chain that a blip in their system threatens the whole thing 2) so poorly managed…

>That’s just totally unsustainable and nuts. That's a very good description of our current semiconductor and shiny tech hardware supply chain.

I mean to some extent sure, I’m always happy to believe the system is pretty stupid.

But on the other hand I’m surprised if 20% of Samsung’s workforce has the power to throw the whole system into chaos but Samsung never figured out a way to take advantage of that, hahaha.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#15

Post by danaris »

bee_rider wrote: post #10
Cheer2171 wrote: post #2

> A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door open for a potential general strike down the road. Despite the clickbait earlier in the article about disruption to supply chains, this seems quite small.

Just for completeness: > A major union representing tens of thousands of people at South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that workers will go on strike for the first time ever, potentially threatening key global semiconductor supply chains. If somehow a company becomes 1) so crucial to the global semiconductor supply chain that a blip in their system threatens the whole thing 2) so poorly managed…

I mean, that's part of the problem with modern supply chains in general: they've been deliberately consolidating (to ensure those at the top get maximum profits) and stripping any redundancy or buffer to the bone (to ensure that no money is ever spent on something that's not immediately relevant to making more profit).

This is a big part of why the supply chain shocks in COVID, and the Ever Given blocking the Suez, were so very disruptive.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#16

Post by danaris »

bee_rider wrote: post #13
djha-skin wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. Is it really a strike at that point? The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real.

I’m slightly confused by this. They say they are using their leave, but what if management says… no? I mean, it isn’t a strike if they are asking management, but I don’t see how they can say they are using their leave without approval.

Not every country has such terrible worker protections that workers require management approval for any time off they want to take.

I have no idea what the relevant protections are like in Korea, but assuming that all workers always require management approval of fully-accrued paid time off is not always safe.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#17

Post by dsalfdslfdsa »

bee_rider wrote: post #14
dsalfdslfdsa wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That’s just totally unsustainable and nuts. That's a very good description of our current semiconductor and shiny tech hardware supply chain.

I mean to some extent sure, I’m always happy to believe the system is pretty stupid. But on the other hand I’m surprised if 20% of Samsung’s workforce has the power to throw the whole system into chaos but Samsung never figured out a way to take advantage of that, hahaha.

They have. Samsung are an incredibly desirable company to work for, both for pay and for career progression, and hold all of the cards here. Why do you think this "strike" consists of using annual leave?

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#18

Post by Retric »

dsalfdslfdsa wrote: post #12
Retric wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung has 0.1 million employees in SK out of a population of 52 million. It’s big, but that also makes it more difficult for them to replace people who quit.

Given the infamous demand for jobs at Samsung, this is a very one-sided negotiation.

Sure, but that’s at their current ultra low turnover rate.

If conditions are actually bad enough for people to be leaving it suddenly becomes much harder to recruit skilled people locally. Especially when there is news coverage of what’s happening.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#19

Post by tivert »

bee_rider wrote: post #13
djha-skin wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. Is it really a strike at that point? The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real.

I’m slightly confused by this. They say they are using their leave, but what if management says… no? I mean, it isn’t a strike if they are asking management, but I don’t see how they can say they are using their leave without approval.

> I’m slightly confused by this. They say they are using their leave, but what if management says… no? I mean, it isn’t a strike if they are asking management, but I don’t see how they can say they are using their leave without approval.

IIRC, this exact tactic happens in the US, but it uses sick time and is called a "sick out." I suppose that's because management can't realistically can't deny approval for an illness to infect you, so sick time can't be subject to the same kind of control as other leave.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#20

Post by marcosdumay »

bee_rider wrote: post #10
Cheer2171 wrote: post #2

> A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door open for a potential general strike down the road. Despite the clickbait earlier in the article about disruption to supply chains, this seems quite small.

Just for completeness: > A major union representing tens of thousands of people at South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that workers will go on strike for the first time ever, potentially threatening key global semiconductor supply chains. If somehow a company becomes 1) so crucial to the global semiconductor supply chain that a blip in their system threatens the whole thing 2) so poorly managed…

Welcome to the just-in-time ideology, where any minuscule blip in any supplier is amplificated through the supply chain until it becomes a disaster.

It takes a lot of competent management work to create those metastable states and push a system into them.

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