Strategy in TECH...
Samsung Electronics and the largest union at the company have finally reached a preliminary agreement on a new contract that provides for a wage increase as well as other benefit enhancements, the company announced today in Korea. The deal should put an end to any further labor actions. However, it still needs to be ratified by the union membership.
As I’ve been reporting, Samsung’s largest union, the 30,000+ member strong National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), has launched a strike against one of the largest employers in all of South Korea. This is not a common occurrence anywhere in Asia, and it is the first major strike Samsung has ever experienced.
Now, after two weeks of continuous work stoppage, Samsung management finally indicated to the union that it was interested in restarting the negotiations – a big win for union leaders.
The relationship between Samsung and its largest union is rapidly deteriorating and suddenly, a strike called by the union initially more for show than impact, has turned very serious. That means that as the union progresses its tactics, the impact on production is likely to quickly reach the point that it will be felt by the company and all of its customers.
Did you hear this statistic? Just this past April, a total of 4 million Americans quit their jobs, according to data recently released by the US Labor Department and reported on by the New York Times. Think about that for a moment. That April figure was the largest number of workers quitting their jobs in any one month…ever. Why? Ah…that’s a good question. I’m glad you asked…
