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00:00South Korea's Samsung is one of the biggest tech firms in the world and this
00:04Friday the group was hit by its first ever walkout. The Samsung Electronics
00:09Union took the action in demand for higher wages. The union represents about
00:1428,000 people, more than a fifth of the company's total workforce. Staff have
00:20been intermittently participating in protests in recent weeks outside the
00:24company's offices in Seoul. Original correspondent Yena Lee has been
00:29following developments. Well this is an ongoing pay dispute. Negotiations
00:35started back in January and in March the management did announce a 5% wage hike
00:41but they dismissed demands for an extra day off work. Now what's at stake are the
00:47bonuses. Union leaders want a simplified, more transparent process based off the
00:52company's profits and this is a company that makes some of the world's most
00:55important and crucial products and I'm not just talking about smartphones but
00:59of course chips. The union that's at the heart of Friday's strike action is the
01:04National Samsung Electronics Union. It's the company's largest and they say that
01:09they represent over 20% of the workforce. That said it's unclear just how many
01:14people are participating in this walkout. Indeed union leaders have encouraged
01:19people to file for a day of leave this Friday and this is a day that's squeezed
01:23between a public bank holiday and a weekend and because those going on
01:27strike don't necessarily have to declare it, well it's gonna be really hard to
01:31figure out just who is genuinely taking a part in this coordinated effort to
01:36walk off the job and who's just gone off for a long weekend. Analysts also say
01:40that this timing, the timing of this strike will thus have very little impact
01:44on the production line. So for now it's more symbolic more than anything because
01:49this is the first strike in Samsung Electronics' 55 year history.