The unionized workers of Samsung Techwin Co., one of four affiliates of Samsung Group that will be handed over to Hanwha Group this year, on Thursday said they have agreed to launch a strike in protest of the group's decision.

The move came as 88.9 percent of the union's 2,998 members voted in support of the strike, while only 72 members opposed.
  

"We are not immediately jumping into the strike," a union official said, adding the details, including the schedule, will be decided in the future.
  

In November, Samsung said it would sell defense affiliate Samsung Techwin and chemical unit Samsung General Chemicals Co. to Hanwha, a conglomerate whose main businesses include defense and solar power.
  

Two other affiliates, Samsung Thales Co. and Samsung Total, were also automatically included in the deal because they are half-owned by the companies being sold to Hanwha.
  

Last month, some 2,300 workers from the four companies held a protest rally in front of the group's headquarters in southern Seoul, voicing opposition on their group's decision to sell their companies to smaller conglomerate Hanwha.
  

Hanwha plans to wrap up the acquisition during the first half of this year and has received government approval for the deal. (Yonhap)