The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), whose roughly 30,000 members make up almost a quarter of the firm’s South Korean workforce, said it has decided to continue with the striking because management has shown no indication of holding talks after a strike that started on Monday.

Samsung workers union continued strike

“We haven’t spoken to management since we started the strike on Monday,” said Lee Hyun-kuk, the union’s vice president.

The union said it would extend the strike initially planned to last three days through Wednesday. As per Lee, the union found its strike has disrupted production on certain chip lines such as with equipment running more slowly.

Production disruption at Samsung

Samsung previously said the strike has caused no disruption to production. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

The union is becoming more vocal and seeking to be treated as an equal partner, adding to challenges at the world’s biggest memory chipmaker which is struggling to navigate competition in chips used for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

As per analysts, it would be difficult to verify whether the strike has disrupted production unless the union provides details of wafers and processes.

Samsung workers union increasing members

Lee said about 6,500 workers have been participating in the strike and that the union will encourage more members to join.

Union officials have disputed reports of low participation, stating that the five-year-old body did not have enough time to educate members about the labor issues. The union held a training session on Tuesday and will conduct another on Wednesday.

Samsung union’s demands

The union said it has revised demands to include a 3.5% increase in base salary and, instead of an extra day’s annual leave, a day off to mark the union’s founding. Lee said the management previously offered a 3% rise in base salary but the union wants 3.5% to better reflect inflation.

Stock update

Samsung’s share price was down 0.1% versus a 0.2% decline in the benchmark KOSPI at 0139 GMT.

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