"Only You Get 600 Million?"... Rush of Union Withdrawals Ahead of Samsung Electronics Strike

Controversy Over Marginalization of Non-Semiconductor Divisions
Daily Union Withdrawal Requests Surpass 1,000

As the Samsung Electronics labor union has announced a general strike, dissatisfaction is growing among union members in non-semiconductor divisions over the union’s focus on performance-based bonuses for the semiconductor business. This discontent is now leading to a movement of union withdrawals.

On the 23rd of last month, members of the Samsung Electronics labor union were shouting slogans at the ‘Change Transparently, Abolish the Ceiling - 4/23 Struggle Resolution Rally’ held in front of Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to the industry on May 3, there has been a recent surge in withdrawal requests on the website bulletin board of the Samsung Electronics Branch of the National Samsung Electronics Union. While daily withdrawals had previously remained below 100, the number surpassed 500 on April 28 and exceeded 1,000 on April 29. Posts certifying their withdrawal also appeared on the company’s internal bulletin board and various employee communities.

Members choosing to withdraw assert that the National Samsung Electronics Union is prioritizing the interests of union members in the Device Solutions (DS) division, which handles semiconductors.

The National Samsung Electronics Union, which is the only majority union at Samsung Electronics, consists of approximately 80% of its members from the DS division. The current strike is also being led primarily by the DS division. The union is demanding that 15% of operating profit in the DS division be paid out as performance-based bonuses with no upper limit. However, it has not made any separate demands regarding the Device eXperience (DX) division.

This trend has led to growing dissatisfaction among employees in the DX division. The DX division, which is responsible for finished products, saw its first-quarter operating profit fall by 36% year-on-year, partly due to the impact of rising semiconductor prices from the DS division within Samsung Electronics. There is even speculation that the division could post a loss for the full year. In this situation, if the union’s demands are accepted, employees in the DS division could receive up to 600 million won per person in performance-based bonuses, while those in the DX division are expressing frustration that, instead of bonuses, they may face drastic restructuring of their business units.

The union’s insistence that loss-making business units such as Foundry and System LSI within the DS division receive the same treatment simply because they belong to DS has also drawn criticism from the DX division. Employees in DX argue that the union is focusing exclusively on rallying the DS division in order to maintain its majority status and secure momentum for the strike.

The recent decision by the union to pay up to 3 million won in activity allowances to staff who participate in strike activities for more than 15 days has further intensified conflict. In January, the union raised monthly membership dues from 10,000 won to 50,000 won during the dispute period, citing the need to establish a fund to guarantee members’ status during industrial action. Now, there is growing resentment within the DX division about having to pay for both union leadership costs and staff allowances when the union is neglecting the DX division.

While there are concerns that growing conflict between union members could weaken the union’s representativeness and undermine the rationale for the strike, the prevailing view is that the strike will proceed, given that only about 20% of the National Samsung Electronics Union’s total members belong to the DX division.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.