Over 6,500 Samsung workers walk off assembly lines over pay, vacation time

More than 6,500 Samsung Electronics Co. workers walked off the job Monday to stage a rally demanding better pay, beginning the biggest organised labor action in the South Korean conglomerate’s half-century history.

Disgruntled employees and union supporters gathered in the pouring rain outside one of Samsung’s biggest chipmaking complexes south of Seoul. Wearing red headbands proclaiming “total strike” and black raincoats, they chanted slogans and sang songs with raised fists. Union leaders, who provided the initial tally of participants, hope the highly publicised protest galvanises a three-day walkout that will send a message to Korea’s biggest company.