Translation result
Up to 100-fold differences across divisions
Bonus-pool dispute reaches dangerous levels
Non-memory and systems units emerge as wildcards
DX excluded from bonus unites disgruntled members
If mediation fails, dispute could erupt into a power struggle
Voting on Samsung Electronics’ tentative 2026 wage deal began on the 22nd, but internal disputes over pay distribution have reached a dangerous level after reports of bonus gaps as large as 100-to-1. Those feelings of exclusion and grievance could become the decisive factor shifting late votes.
Even if the agreement is approved, analysts warn that unresolved division-level conflicts could escalate beyond routine union friction and turn into inter-union power struggles aimed at winning majority control.
Given the current dynamics, the vote is likely to pass with backing from roughly 53,000 supporters in the semiconductor (DS) division, including the memory business and common units. But union members from DS’s loss-making non-memory units (foundry and system LSI) are a wildcard. About 20,000 foundry and system LSI members worry that a performance-linked bonus system could widen the gap with the memory unit by amounts in the 100-million KRW range (approximately 75,000 USD per 100 million KRW). Reports indicate many in the loss-making units favor the deal because they would still receive bonuses in the 100-million KRW range (approximately 75,000 USD per 100 million KRW), but some could defect in protest against differential pay.
Mobile and home-appliance workers in the DX division—excluded from the special bonus—have voiced outright anger. Park, 35, who assembles appliances at Samsung Digital City in Yeongtong‑gu, Suwon, asked, “Is it fair that only the DS division receives the bonuses?” A senior smartphone R&D engineer in their 40s called the decision unjust, saying, “DX contributes significantly to Samsung’s earnings, yet employees who produce results are not being recognized.” At a press conference outside the Suwon plant gate, the Suwon branch of the National Samsung Electronics Union and the Donghaeng Union criticized the deal, arguing it concentrates benefits in the DS division—especially memory—and fails to represent the interests of all Samsung employees.
Discontented DX employees have rallied behind the Donghaeng Union. Within a day of the announcement that included a DS special bonus, 8,000 DX workers joined Donghaeng, boosting its membership from 3,000 to 11,172. Although Donghaeng withdrew from the Joint Struggle Headquarters on the 4th, its participation in the vote could significantly increase “no” votes. Tensions are rising between Donghaeng, which is demanding voting rights, and the cross‑company union trying to block them. The lead union that negotiated the agreement posted a notice yesterday afternoon stating the 2026 tentative wage pact was concluded between management and the “joint bargaining team,” and that unions which withdrew from that team therefore have no voting rights on the tentative agreement.
Even if Donghaeng members abstain and the agreement passes, observers expect the conflict to continue. Donghaeng could pursue legal remedies—such as seeking an injunction to suspend the vote’s validity—and it might expand by organizing DX workers into a cross‑company union similar to the one that consolidated DS units.
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