Within three days, turnout in the vote on the tentative 2026 wage and collective agreement by the Samsung Electronics labor union topped 85%. Because most union members with voting rights belong to the semiconductor (DS) institutional sector, the industry sees a greater likelihood that the deal will pass.
As of 5:33 p.m. on the 24th, 48,805 people had voted, according to the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group Supra-Company Labor Union. Of the 57,291 eligible voters, 85.19% had cast ballots.
Turnout has steadily risen since voting began. At 5:30 p.m. on the 22nd, when the yes-or-no vote started, it stood at 57.4%. It climbed to 74.27% at 10:40 a.m. the previous day and 80.14% at 5:13 p.m. It reached 82.86% at 10:36 a.m. that day and surpassed the 85% mark in the afternoon.
The number of eligible voters for the general meeting is smaller than the total membership of the supra-company union. As of 2 p.m. on the 21st, when the voter list closed, the supra-company union had 70,850 members. The roughly 13,560 gap with the total number of eligible voters appears to be because recently joined members did not obtain voting rights. Under the supra-company union's bylaws, members who have not paid dues for more than one consecutive month have no voting rights.
A large share of supra-company union members are in the DS institutional sector. About 24,000 members are in the memory business division, about 17,000 in the non-memory business division, and about 22,000 in the common institutional sector. CSS and other institutional sectors number around 1,000. Members in the device experience (DX) institutional sector, including mobile and home appliances, are said to number between 7,000 and 8,000.
Voting ends at 10 a.m. on the 27th. For the tentative agreement to pass, a majority of eligible voters must participate and a majority of participating voters must approve. With turnout already exceeding 85%, the quorum requirement has been met.
The National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno), which formed a joint bargaining group with the supra-company union, is expected to tally turnout separately. The Samsung Electronics Labor Union Donghaeng (Donghaeng Union), whose core members are in the DX institutional sector, withdrew from the joint bargaining group and was not granted voting rights in this yes-or-no vote.
Meanwhile, Choi Seung-ho, Chairperson of the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group Supra-Company Labor Union, said that regardless of the outcome of the vote on the tentative agreement, a vote to reaffirm the Chairperson's mandate will be held in June.