By Kwanwoo Jun


Samsung Electronics unionized workers staged what they called the first-ever walkout at the South Korean technology giant since it was founded more than five decades ago, taking a day of paid leave en masse.

The union action at the world's top memory-chip maker had no immediate impact on operations. Samsung didn't report any work disruption. Its shares traded higher early Friday.

The 28,000-strong National Samsung Electronics Union, representing roughly one-fifth of the company's workforce, said many of its members walked out Friday after several rounds of wage talks broke down. Union officials declined to give details on how many workers went on strike.

The company likely made work adjustments for the union action, which fell on a work day between a public holiday in South Korea and the weekend, and its heavily automated chip-fabrication facilities don't typically require much human labor, according to market analysts.

Samsung's management and union leaders have been in wage negotiations since January, but both sides have been at odds over the wage increase rate, bonuses and other working conditions.

"[The company management] has been sincere in talks with the union and it will continue to be," a Samsung spokesman said Friday.

However, recent union statements have accused management of not respecting the union as a negotiating partner.

The labor action comes at a critical time for Samsung, which is striving to regain its edge in the semiconductor business on growing demand for advanced chips amid the artificial-intelligence boom.

The AI-driven recovery in the industry helped Samsung's chip-making business turn around after four straight quarters of losses, resulting in a more than quadrupling in net profit for the first quarter.

Still, the company continues to face a challenging business environment.

In May, Samsung replaced its semiconductor business chief amid concerns that it was falling behind in the race to develop high-bandwidth-memory products, a crucial component for AI and high-performing computing systems.

Samsung's market share in the global foundry business--manufacturing chips designed by others--fell to 12% in 2023 from 18% in 2029, according to CLSA estimates.


Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-07-24 0020ET