{"id":9193,"date":"2026-07-18T03:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9193"},"modified":"2026-07-18T03:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:21:11","slug":"samsung-electronics-unions-deepen-split-over-worker-bonuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9193","title":{"rendered":"Samsung Electronics unions deepen split over worker bonuses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/ph\/st\/th\/3531784325864\/2026\/upi_com\/c31b84c75712ec4483422d5c7371dd6d\/v1.5\/Samsung-Electronics-unions-deepen-split-over-worker-bonuses.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Union members of Samsung Electronics Co. hold a rally protesting against gaps in bonuses in front of its branch in Suwon, south of Seoul, South Korea, 16 July 2026. Photo by YONHAP \/ EPA<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"story_dl\">July 16 (Asia Today) &#8212;<\/span> Divisions among Samsung Electronics labor unions are widening as unions representing different business units pursue separate compensation demands and bargaining strategies.<\/p>\n<p>The Samsung Electronics Donghaeng Union, which primarily represents employees in the Device eXperience division, staged a rally Thursday demanding compensation equivalent to about 1,000 company shares per employee.\n<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group Super-Enterprise Union, whose membership is concentrated in the Device Solutions division, held its first policy committee meeting for the semiconductor business.<\/p>\n<p>The divisions developed from a dispute over performance bonuses and have continued despite the conclusion of companywide wage negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>The Donghaeng union held its rally near the main entrance of Samsung Electronics&#8217; Suwon campus in Gyeonggi Province.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We strongly condemn management for unilaterally excluding the DX division and reaching a closed-door agreement without transparency,&#8221; the union said.<\/p>\n<p>More than 7,000 people were reported to have attended, more than twice the approximately 3,000 participants initially expected by organizers.\n<\/p>\n<p>Participants wore black and carried signs reading &#8220;Same company, same rights,&#8221; &#8220;Rest in peace, DX&#8221; and &#8220;Discrimination off, fairness on.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Behind the company&#8217;s remarkable achievements are the dedication and hard work of DX employees,&#8221; the union said. &#8220;However, management created an extreme compensation gap between business divisions during the latest negotiations, leaving DX employees feeling excluded and relatively deprived.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The union called on Samsung Electronics to immediately offer each DX employee compensation equivalent to about 1,000 company shares.<\/p>\n<p>It also demanded that the company secure funding in advance for companywide employee compensation in 2027 and disclose the amount transparently.<\/p>\n<p>The Donghaeng union said it would hold another rally in Seoul&#8217;s Seocho District unless the company takes additional action.<\/p>\n<p>Lee Ho-seok, head of the Suwon branch of the National Samsung Electronics Union, attended Thursday&#8217;s rally and suggested his union could join forces with Donghaeng over what union leaders described as management&#8217;s exclusion of DX employees.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To create one Samsung Electronics, rights, respect and compensation must be provided equally,&#8221; Lee said. &#8220;Management must answer our questions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Super-Enterprise Union, meanwhile, held the kickoff meeting of its DS Division Policy Committee on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The committee discussed its operating rules, plans for the 2027 wage and collective bargaining negotiations and its response to the company&#8217;s Mega Project initiative.\n<\/p>\n<p>The union said the committee would meet monthly and hold regular consultations with management.<\/p>\n<p>The union is also preparing to request separate bargaining units that would allow employees in the DS and DX divisions to negotiate independently with management.<\/p>\n<p>Choi Seung-ho, chairman of the Super-Enterprise Union&#8217;s Samsung Electronics branch, said he intends to secure the change this year.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Super-Enterprise Union will responsibly lead the 2027 wage and collective bargaining negotiations rather than participate in joint negotiations,&#8221; Choi said. &#8220;With about four months remaining before negotiations begin in early December, we will use the policy committee to develop a thorough set of demands.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The unions began moving separately after Samsung Electronics introduced a special performance bonus for the DS division in May.<\/p>\n<p>As unions increasingly organized along business-unit lines, disputes among them intensified.<\/p>\n<p>As of Thursday, the Super-Enterprise Union had 54,286 members, the Donghaeng union had 28,877 and the National Samsung Electronics Union had 22,826.<\/p>\n<p>The Super-Enterprise Union previously represented a majority of Samsung Electronics&#8217; unionized workforce. Its membership declined after large numbers of DX employees left, while membership in the Donghaeng union and the National Samsung Electronics Union increased.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8212; Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a9 Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.<\/i>\n<\/p>\n<p><i>Original Korean report: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260716010006332\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260716010006332<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Union members of Samsung Electronics Co. hold a rally protesting against gaps in bonuses in front of its branch in Suwon, south of Seoul, South Korea, 16 July 2026. Photo by YONHAP \/ EPA July 16 (Asia Today) &#8212; Divisions among Samsung Electronics labor unions are widening as unions representing different business units pursue separate&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/sv\/ph\/og\/upi_com\/3531784325864\/2026\/1\/c31b84c75712ec4483422d5c7371dd6d\/v1.5\/Samsung-Electronics-unions-deepen-split-over-worker-bonuses.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}