"Make it transparent and abolish the cap."
Starting at 1 p.m. on the 23rd, Samsung Electronics employees holding such placards began gathering at the Pyeongtaek Campus, the world's largest semiconductor production base. An approximately 1-kilometer stretch of the eight-lane road at 1742 Godeok-dong, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, quickly filled with people wearing vests of the Samsung Group super-enterprise labor union's Samsung Electronics chapter (hereafter the super-enterprise union). The super-enterprise union, which has 76,100 members, recently said it received official confirmation from the Gyeonggi Regional Employment and Labor Office that it had achieved "majority union" status, which allows it to secure the position of workers' representative.
The joint struggle headquarters formed by three unions within Samsung Electronics held a "rally to resolve to fight" at the Pyeongtaek Campus that day. When the main event began at 2 p.m., about 40,000 people had gathered, according to police and union estimates. They took annual leave or filed for dispute-related attendance and joined the rally. Given that Samsung Electronics had 128,881 employees as of the end of last year, about 31% attended the rally.
After negotiations for the 2026 wage and collective agreement (wage-and-bargaining agreement) with management collapsed, the super-enterprise union, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union, and the Samsung Electronics Companion Union formed the joint struggle headquarters, held a strike vote in March, and won a majority in favor. Accordingly, they plan to launch a general strike for 18 days from May 21 to June 7. The rally that day was widely seen as an attempt to show the union's "muscle" ahead of the strike.
The Samsung Electronics joint struggle headquarters is demanding a performance bonus system with no cap, funded by 15% of annual operating profit. Choi Seung-ho, chairperson of the super-enterprise union, said, "The performance bonus system is opaque, and we cannot know the distribution rate," and added, "The company tried to wrap up talks under the pretext of a one-off reward while turning a blind eye to abolishing the bonus cap, making the system transparent, and institutionalizing it." Choi also said, "Some outside say, 'You already get a lot and are asking for more money,'" but added, "We will revive the 'talent first' principle through fair compensation tied to performance and will not stop fighting until our legitimate demands are met."
The rally proceeded in the order of the event declaration, the entry of union flags, and the union chairperson's fighting address. Following the emcee's lead, participants shouted "fight" multiple times. Banners reading "Deficits are the result of management failure" and "We have endured enough; let's defend our right to live" were also hung along the road.
The Samsung Electronics joint struggle headquarters had expected about 39,000 people to attend the rally. With actual attendance exceeding that, concern is growing that a real production disruption could occur if the union goes on strike. More than 80% of the super-enterprise union's members belong to the DS (semiconductor) division.
A DS division employee, a person surnamed Lee, 37, said, "Most of our senior and junior colleagues filed dispute-related attendance and came to the rally together," and added, "At our workplace in Hwaseong, effectively only those around the director general level remained, so I think semiconductor production could be disrupted." An executive of the super-enterprise union also said, "Although we don't have an exact count, with 40,000 workers off the job, there would not have been zero production impact."
However, because the rally ran relatively short, around two hours, it was reported that it did not lead to actual production disruptions. In the industry, there is concern that if attendance at a strike matches the higher-than-expected rally turnout, production disruptions could occur. A semiconductor industry official said, "If strike participation tracks rally attendance, it could lead to real production disruptions."
Meanwhile, before the "rally to resolve to fight," a protest by Samsung Electronics shareholders critical of the union was also held near the Pyeongtaek Campus. Small shareholders at the scene stood with a banner reading "Samsung stands with 5 million shareholders of the Republic of Korea" and placards that said, "Samsung shareholder dividends 11 trillion won! Samsung employee dividends 40 trillion won?"
Min Kyung-kwon, head of the Korea Shareholder Movement Headquarters, told reporters, "The real owners of that factory on the corporate registry, which holds the equity, are the shareholders," and noted, "Stopping the plant during a semiconductor upcycle directly harms the real assets of Samsung Electronics and its shareholders."