By Kimberley Kao and Farah Elias


A union representing Samsung Electronics workers has called for the first-ever strike in the South Korean technology giant's history after talks over wage increases broke down.

The union said it plans to start action by getting its members to collectively use one day of paid leave on June 7, as a first step toward a potential full-scale strike.

"We can no longer tolerate labor oppression and union oppression. We are declaring a strike, given the management's attitude of ignoring workers," the National Samsung Electronics Union said Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The National Samsung Electronics Union and Samsung Electronics' management have held several rounds of talks and negotiations since January but failed to narrow their differences. The union said it has about 28,000 members, or roughly one-fifth of the company's total workforce.

Samsung shares fell after the strike plan was reported and ended 3.1% lower at 75,200 won.

If the strike goes ahead, it would be the first-ever walkout by Samsung Electronics workers.

It would also come at a challenging time for the world's largest memory-chip maker, which is trying to ramp up its semiconductor business as demand grows amid the artificial-intelligence boom.

In a surprise move, Samsung last week replaced the head of its semiconductor business after the company fell behind in the race to develop advanced high-bandwidth memory chips, a critical component for AI and high-performance computing systems. It called the leadership change a "pre-emptive measure" aimed at strengthening the company's competitiveness.

The company, South Korea's largest by market capitalization, last month reported a more than quadrupling in first-quarter net profit as its flagship semiconductor business swung to profit on a rebound in memory-chip prices, offering a sign that the global technology industry is pulling itself out of a prolonged slump.

Still, Samsung has witnessed its share of the global foundry business--manufacturing chips designed by others--fall in recent years despite a ramp-up in investment.

Taiwan's TSMC has seen its share of the worldwide foundry market expand to 59% in 2023 from 50% in 2019, according to CLSA estimates. During the same period, Samsung's market share fell to 12% from 18%.

South Korea last week unveiled a $19 billion support package to help the country's chip makers close the gap with other leading players.


--Jiyoung Sohn contributed to this article.


Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com and Farah Elias at farah.elias@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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