Thousands of workers, wearing rain jackets and ribbons reading “fight with solidarity,” gathered outside the company’s foundry and semiconductor factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, about an hour south of Seoul. Negotiations between Samsung management and the union have been ongoing since January, but the two sides have yet to reach an agreement on benefits and a rejected 5.1 percent pay raise offer from the company.

“The strike has started from today,” Son Woo-mok, head of the National Samsung Electronics Union, told AFP. “Today’s general strike is just the beginning,” he added, urging workers to remember their cause and refrain from coming to work or taking business calls until July 10th.

The union reported that approximately 5,200 workers from factory facilities, manufacturing, and development joined the protest. Lee Hyun-kuk, vice president of the union, questioned the company's belief that the strike wouldn't affect production.

The union, which represents more than 30,000 members—over a fifth of Samsung’s total workforce—announced the three-day strike last week as a last resort after negotiations broke down. This follows a one-day walkout in June, the first such action at Samsung, a company that went decades without unionization.

“We are now at a critical crossroads,” the union stated in an appeal to members last week, urging them to support the strike. “This strike is the last card we can use,” it said, emphasizing the need for workers to “act as one.”

One union member and protester expressed excitement about the strike, telling AFP, “We’re making history.”