As the labor union vote on the tentative agreement for Samsung Electronics' 2026 wage negotiations is underway, turnout has surpassed 87%. However, with internal friction continuing over gaps in bonuses by institutional sector, attention is focused on whether the deal will ultimately pass.
According to the industry on the 25th, as of 5:10 p.m. that day, in the vote held by the largest union at Samsung Electronics, the Samsung Group Supra-Enterprise Labor Union Samsung Branch (hereafter the supra-enterprise union), 50,453 out of 57,301 eligible voters participated, recording a turnout of 88.1%.
At the same time, the second-largest union, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union, saw 6,801 out of 8,187 eligible voters participate, showing a turnout of 83.1%.
The combined turnout of the two unions was tallied at 87.4%. The vote began at 2:12 p.m. on the 22nd and is scheduled to end at 10 a.m. on the 27th. If a majority of eligible voters participate and a majority of participants vote in favor, the tentative agreement will be finalized.
However, in-house reactions to the tentative agreement are divided. In particular, there is a growing move to vote it down among employees in the Device eXperience (DX) institutional sector, which handles smartphones, home appliances and TVs.
The third-largest union, the Samsung Electronics Labor Union Donghaeng (hereafter the Donghaeng union), plans to submit an injunction request to Suwon District Court on the 26th to halt the ongoing vote on the tentative agreement.
The Donghaeng union claims the supra-enterprise union excluded it from the voting process out of concern over the mobilization of employees in the DX institutional sector. The union says it should also be given voting rights so that the views of DX institutional sector members can be adequately reflected.
The Donghaeng union is composed mainly of employees in the DX institutional sector, including smartphones, home appliances and TVs. Membership is said to have increased from about 2,600 to roughly 13,000 recently.
Previously, the Donghaeng union had formed a joint struggle headquarters with the supra-enterprise union and the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union to negotiate with management, but it withdrew from the joint body, citing insufficient reflection of DX institutional sector employees' views.
The supra-enterprise union, on the other hand, maintains that since the Donghaeng union withdrew from the joint body, it has no voting rights.
The tentative agreement includes the creation of a special semiconductor management performance bonus funded by 10.5% of operating profit and an average wage increase of 6.2% (a 4.1% base raise and a 2.1% performance raise).
If the agreement is finalized, employees in the Device Solutions (DS, semiconductors) institutional sector are expected to receive performance bonuses of about 210 million won to as much as 600 million won (before tax) based on an annual salary of 100 million won. By contrast, as DX institutional sector employees may receive only company stock worth about 6 million won, an internal fairness debate is continuing.