With about 16 hours left before the close, turnout in the Samsung Group supra-company labor union Samsung Electronics branch (supra-company union) membership vote on the tentative 2026 wage and bonus agreement prepared by labor and management at Samsung Electronics has surpassed 93%.
As the vote entered the final stage, a court rejected an injunction request to halt collective bargaining that some non-semiconductor employees filed against the supra-company union.
According to the supra-company union, as of 5:40 p.m. on the 26th, 53,567 members had voted on the tentative wage and bonus agreement. With 57,319 eligible voters, turnout stands at 93.45%. The vote began at 2 p.m. on the 22nd and ends at 10 a.m. on the 27th. Compared with 8 a.m. that day (turnout 89.16%), participation increased by 2,476.
Over the same period, the number of eligible voters increased by 17. The change in the voter roll is related to relief measures for some members' voting rights. Supra-company union Chairperson Choi Seung-ho said that day, "For members who were processed as withdrawn due to a secretariat error, voting rights are being granted upon confirmation of dues payment history."
On the 22nd, the supra-company union announced, "It has been confirmed that, in the course of processing union administration, some members were processed as withdrawn regardless of their intention to withdraw and were excluded from membership status and the exercise of voting rights." The union decided to cancel those withdrawal entries and restore membership status and voting rights. Under the supra-company union's bylaws, voting rights are granted to current rights members who paid April dues via the cash management service (CMS).
◇ Court rejects injunction to halt bargaining by Samsung Electronics supra-company union
The core of the tentative agreement is to maintain the existing over-profit incentive (OPI) while creating a special management performance bonus for the DS (semiconductors) institutional sector. The funding for the DS special management performance bonus is set at 10.5% of business performance, selected by labor and management through agreement. Including the OPI funding, the DS institutional sector's bonus pool is about 12% of business performance. The DS special management performance bonus will be paid entirely in after-tax treasury shares.
By contrast, the DX (finished goods) institutional sector and the Customer Service (CSS) business team will receive treasury shares worth 6 million won. Because of this, within the company, DS employees, centered on the memory business unit, have shown strong support, while opposition has formed in the DX institutional sector.
As the supra-company union holding bargaining rights appeared to continue talks with management around a DS-centered compensation plan, DX institutional sector employees have continued to raise objections. The Samsung Electronics Employees' Rights Restoration Legal Response Alliance, composed of five Samsung Electronics DX institutional sector members, filed for an injunction on the 15th to halt the 2026 wage and collective bargaining against the supra-company union.
However, the Suwon District Court rejected the injunction request that day. The court found it difficult to conclude that it was sufficiently substantiated that the supra-company union's bargaining demands were skewed toward certain members' demands and failed to properly reflect the interests of the entire membership. The court also noted that, given the supra-company union conducted surveys and other steps, it was difficult to say there were no procedures at all to confirm members' intentions or gather opinions.
◇ Approval likely, but variables remain
In the industry, with the injunction to halt bargaining rejected, judicial brakes on the vote on the tentative agreement have been avoided, increasing the likelihood of approval.
The supra-company union's membership is heavily concentrated in the DS institutional sector. The supra-company union has about 71,000 members. Of these, about 24,000 are in the memory business unit, about 17,000 in non-memory, and about 22,000 in DS shared organizations, bringing DS institutional sector membership to around 63,000. About 90% of all members belong to the DS institutional sector. By contrast, the DX institutional sector has about 8,000 members.
Still, there are variables. Samsung Electronics Labor Union Donghaeng (Donghaeng union), a union centered on DX institutional sector employees, filed an injunction with the Suwon District Court that day to "halt the members' vote on the tentative 2026 wage agreement." Donghaeng union Chairperson Park Jae-yong said in front of the Suwon District Court before filing, "The representative union, which wields overwhelming power in the union, did not recognize the equal rights and voting rights of minority unions," adding, "We will fight to the end to find and win a reasonable alternative for DX institutional sector members who are marginalized in this tentative agreement." The court, however, set the hearing date for the injunction filed by the Donghaeng union for the 29th, after the vote ends.
Together with the supra-company union and the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union, the Donghaeng union formed a joint bargaining group in Nov. last year and conducted 2026 wage talks with management, but on the 4th it notified that it was ending its participation in the joint group, saying DX institutional sector views were not sufficiently reflected. The supra-company union viewed that, by this notice, the Donghaeng union lost its status as a participating union in the joint bargaining group, and on the 20th limited the eligible voters in the tentative agreement ratification vote to members of the supra-company union and the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union who remained in the joint group at the time of agreement. The Donghaeng union, by contrast, argues that the supra-company union excluded it from the voting process out of concern over a consolidation of opposition among DX institutional sector members.