Samsung Electronics will resume wage talks with the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) on Tuesday, July 23 after 15 days of strike action at its semiconductor plant in the Gyeonggi-do province of South Korea.

Union members are asking for an extra day of leave every year to mark the union’s founding, a 5.6 percent pay increase – as opposed to the 5.1 percent Samsung had signed off on, improvements to the company’s performance-based bonus system, and reasonable financial compensation to all union members who participated in the strike.

In a Google-translated post on the NSEU’s forum, the union shared details of a ‘General Strike Victory Rally’ that was held at the company’s Giheung Campus in an effort to strengthen its bargaining position.

The post claims 1,800 people joined the rally, with attendees singing both the unity struggle song and strike song after opening decelerations were made. Union members then reportedly marched in an “orderly manner for about 50 minutes, and gathered in front of the assembly point… without any incident.”

A second rally was then held at the assembly point, with those who had marched shouting out union slogans and calling for victory.

Strike action in South Korea started last month when the NSEU staged an initial walkout on June 7, with participating workers asked to use paid annual leave in that instance. A second three-day walkout then took place on July 8 -11, but after Samsung’s management reportedly failed to engage with the NSEU, the union announced the strike would be extended indefinitely.

When the strike was originally extended, the union urged workers who were still hesitant to participate in the strike action to get involved, claiming that “hesitation only delays results” and the union needed its members’ “determination to advance our goals and victories.”

The NSEU consists of approximately 28,000 workers, around one-fifth of the company’s workforce. It’s believed that around 6,500 workers took place in the three-day strike action but unclear how many went on to participate in the ongoing walkout.

Posted on July 10, the union’s general strike declaration read: “Let's work together to protect our rights and create a better future.”