As of 8 a.m. on the 26th, a day before union members were set to finish voting on a tentative agreement on wages and bonuses for 2026 at Samsung Electronics, turnout was tallied at nearly 90%.
As complaints spread among employees in the DX institutional sector (finished goods) that the compensation in the tentative agreement is concentrated in the DS (semiconductors) institutional sector, Samsung Electronics Labor Union Companion (Companion union), centered on DX employees, is moving to file for an injunction to halt the voting process.
The cross-company labor union's Samsung Electronics chapter (cross-company union) said that, as of 8 a.m. that day, 51,091 union members had taken part in the vote on the tentative wage and bonus agreement at Samsung Electronics. The number of eligible voters among cross-company union members for this vote is 57,302, putting turnout at 89.16%. Voting began at 2 p.m. on the 22nd and ends at 10 a.m. on the 27th. Compared with 4:30 p.m. the previous day (turnout 87.93%), the number of participants increased by 704.
As the tentative agreement vote enters the final stretch, a dispute between unions over voting rights appears to be escalating into a legal battle. The Companion union plans to file for an injunction, including to halt the vote, with the Suwon District Court around 9 a.m. that day. The Companion union argues that the cross-company union excluded them from the vote out of concern that DX institutional sector employees would coalesce in opposition. The Companion union is one of the three major unions at Samsung Electronics, centered on DX institutional sector employees who handle smartphones, home appliances, and TVs.
Membership in the Companion union has surged recently. Even as recently as last month, it stood at about 2,200, but it has now risen to around 12,900.
The current conflict stems from the Companion union's exit from the joint bargaining group and the issue of granting voting rights. The cross-company union, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno), and the Companion union formed a joint bargaining group in November last year and conducted 2026 wage talks with management. The Companion union also joined the joint struggle committee formed after talks broke down in February, but declared its exit, saying opinions from the DX institutional sector were not properly reflected.
The cross-company union says the Companion union notified it would end participation in the joint bargaining group on the 4th, thereby losing its status as a participating union. The tentative agreement was reached on the 20th between the joint bargaining group and management. The cross-company union therefore granted voting rights only to members of the cross-company union and Jeonsamno who were participating in the joint bargaining group when the agreement was concluded. The Companion union, separate from the cross-company union's policy, is also conducting its own yes-or-no vote.