Samsung union stages first walkout, no disruption reported

No production disruption has been reported at Samsung Electronics on Friday despite unionized workers' first walkout since the company's founding in 1969.

Samsung Electronics unionized workers stage a protest on Friday at the tech company's building in southern Seoul as they launched the first-ever walkout. [YONHAP]

No production disruption has been reported at Samsung Electronics on Friday despite unionized workers' first walkout since the company's founding in 1969.

About 28,000 members of the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) were set to collectively take the day off in protest of wages, but a company spokesperson said that no major disruption occurred.

The NSEU did not disclose the number of workers joining the walkout, saying the decision should be made voluntarily.

"A coordinated use of vacation days is our first step in moving toward our final goal of a large-scale strike," Lee Hyun-guk, deputy chief of the NSEU, said.

Market researcher TrendForce said the one-day leave is not expected to cause disruptions in Samsung's production, as Friday is a weekday between a holiday on Thursday and the weekend, and Samsung's semiconductor fabs have a high automation rate.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]