Samsung restarts union talks as chip factory strikes persist

(Bloomberg) — Samsung Electronics Co. agreed to resume talks with the union organizing strikes at its chip factories, as the unprecedented labor action threatens to stretch into a third week.

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Executives from Korea’s largest company will meet with union leaders on Friday to discuss a framework and timeline for salary negotiations, according to Samsung and union representatives.

This month’s series of strikes and protests marked the largest and most widespread labor protests in Samsung’s half-century history. Samsung’s largest union, made up of more than 30,000 members, has asked employees to leave their jobs at an advanced AI memory chip factory alongside other factories in Seoul, changing tack after a campaign for higher wages showed signs of losing strength.

Thousands of people joined an initial demonstration, but it is unclear how many employees in total responded to the union’s call for a strike. The concern is that prolonged labor actions could snowball and hurt the country’s best-known company, or trigger similar responses in a recovering technology and chip industry.

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