"Performance Bonus Shortfall" Spurs Samsung Employees' 'Black Attire' Protest... Labor-Labor Conflict Continues

DX Employees Stage 'Black Attire' Protest at Suwon Headquarters
Dissatisfaction Grows Over DS Division's Up to 100-Fold Bonus Gap
Union Membership Surges in a Month... Over 26,000 Join

Employees of Samsung Electronics' DX Division wore black clothes to work in protest of the large performance bonus gap. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Although wage negotiations between Samsung Electronics management and labor have been settled, averting the risk of a strike, internal conflict is entering a new phase. Unlike the Device Solutions (DS) division, where employees will receive up to 600 million won in performance bonuses, anger among workers in the Device eXperience (DX) division—including home appliances and mobile units, who only received a lump-sum payment of around 6 million won—has reached a peak, intensifying the so-called "union-versus-union conflict."

DX-Centered Donghaeng Union Launches Campaigns at Sites Including Suwon

According to industry sources on June 19, DX division employees belonging to the Samsung Electronics Donghaeng Labor Union (Donghaeng Union) conducted a campaign at the company’s headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, by coming to work dressed in black clothing or wearing black masks.

Samsung Electronics DX Division employees wore black clothes to work in protest of the large performance bonus gap. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Formed primarily by DX division employees, the Donghaeng Union plans to expand the campaign from Suwon to other sites nationwide, including Gwangju and Umyeon. The union is also taking coordinated action by advising members to change their internal profile messages to "Same company, same rights" and to postpone signing annual salary contracts.

600 Million Won vs. 6 Million Won... '100-Fold' Bonus Disparity Sharpens Union Conflict

The core of the conflict is the performance bonus gap between the DS division, which handles the semiconductor business, and the DX division. Labor and management recently agreed to introduce a special management performance bonus fund, sourced from 10.5% of the semiconductor business’s profits.

On May 20th, after concluding the Samsung Electronics wage negotiations held at the Gyeonggi Employment and Labor Office in Jangan-gu, Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province, Yeomyeonggu, head of the People Team at Samsung Electronics DS (Device Solutions - semiconductor business), and Choi Seungho, chairman of the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group Super Enterprise Labor Union, shook hands after signing the provisional agreement. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

As a result, employees in the DS division's memory business are expected to receive up to approximately 600 million won (based on a pre-tax annual salary of 100 million won), including company stock bonuses and the Outperformance Incentive (OPI). In contrast, the DX division, which has continued to underperform, will reportedly receive only about 6 million won per person in company stock.

The stark difference in compensation amounts depending on the business area within the same company is fueling a growing debate over fairness. Some point out that, despite the principle of "performance-based compensation," the perceived gap is excessively large.

Donghaeng Union Membership Surpasses 26,000... Union Landscape Shifting

The performance bonus controversy is also reshaping the union landscape. Dissatisfaction with the super-enterprise union that led previous wage negotiations has led to member defections, while the Donghaeng Union, centered on the DX division, has rapidly expanded its influence.

The Donghaeng Union's membership has surpassed 26,000, representing more than half of all DX division employees. The union has also announced plans to expand to 40,000 members, further increasing its influence.

Meanwhile, the super-enterprise union is facing internal pressures, such as launching a leadership re-approval process amid declining membership. The union chairman has indicated that, if re-approved, the semiconductor division will be prioritized in future negotiations.

Experts interpret this issue as a fundamental problem with the compensation system based on business structure, rather than simply a wage dispute. As performance gaps between business units widen, setting fair compensation standards within the same company is expected to become a key issue in future labor-management relations.

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