The National Samsung Electronics Union has extended its three day strike to “indefinitely” over pay and benefits. Credit: Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP/ Getty Images

Samsung Electronics‘ largest labour union of over 30,000 workers has announced an indefinite strike, marking the biggest organised labour action in the South Korean battery maker’s history. 

Earlier this week thousands of workers protested outside Samsung’s chipmaking plants in the south of Seoul to demand better pay. The planned protests were originally due to last for three days. 

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The union is asking for a 3.5% basic pay increase and one extra day holiday.

Union vice president Lee Hyun-kuk told Reuters that Samsung had offered 3% but claimed the union had not heard from management since Monday (8 July).

The strike was due to end on Wednesday (10 July) but will now be extended as a result of this, he said. Hyun-kuk added that some chip production had been disrupted.

Samsung has denied Hyun-kuk’s claims that production disruption has occurred following the strikes.

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“Samsung Electronics will ensure no disruption occurs in the production lines,” the company said in a statement. “The company remains committed to engaging in good faith negotiations with the union.”

Concerns over production disruption at the world’s largest memory chipmaker, follow optimistic reports that the company’s operating profit for the April–June quarter projected a 1,452.2%, or 15-fold, increase.

The AI chip market is estimated to be worth more than $116bn by 2030, according to GlobalData’s executive briefing on AI.

By 2030, nearly 30% of the global chip market is predicted to be made up of AI chips, according to GlobalData.