Employees of Samsung Electronics in South Korea approved on Wednesday the collective agreement reached between company management and labor unions through government mediation. The vote averted a strike that had threatened to disrupt global semiconductor supplies and harm the South Korean economy.
Approximately 74% of the roughly 62,000 members of the company’s two largest unions, Samsung Electronics Labor Union and National Samsung Electronics Union, voted in favor of the agreement. These unions primarily represent workers in the semiconductor sector.
The agreement includes a new performance-based bonus system for the next decade covering 78,000 employees in the semiconductor division, alongside an average wage increase of about 6.2%. Under the agreement, individual bonuses could reach as much as approximately $370,000 per year.
The agreement was signed against the backdrop of rapidly growing demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence data centers, which contributed to an approximately 750% increase in Samsung Electronics's operating profit in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period a year earlier.
At the same time, the company's market value surpassed the $1 trillion mark for the first time. The labor dispute at Samsung was also influenced by developments at rival chipmaker SK Hynix. Last year, employees at SK Hynix received bonuses that were reportedly three times larger than those awarded to Samsung's workers, a disparity that became a significant source of dissatisfaction during negotiations.
Other divisions claim disproportionate preferential treatment
The new agreement applies to approximately 78,000 employees, representing just over 60% of Samsung Electronics's workforce. However, the deal has also exposed internal tensions within the company, as employees in other divisions have argued that it grants disproportionate advantages to workers in the semiconductor business.
The company's third-largest union, Samsung Electronics Collective Union, which primarily represents employees in the Device Experience (DX) division, filed a request for an injunction with the Suwon District Court one day before the vote. The union sought to halt the vote and demand the development of comparable arrangements for the employees it represents.
The request was rejected, but the legal dispute between SECU, the two larger unions, and company management appears likely to continue.
