Samsung DX Union Plans Rally in Front of Lee Jae-yong's Home: "Resolve Compensation Disparities"

Donghaeng Union to Stage Rallies and Solo Protests from the 18th
Demands Include 1,000 Company Shares Per Employee

The Samsung Electronics Labor Union Donghaeng (hereinafter referred to as "Donghaeng Union"), which is mainly comprised of employees responsible for finished products such as home appliances in the Device eXperience (DX) division of Samsung Electronics, is holding a rally in front of Chairman Lee Jae-yong's residence to demand a reduction in compensation gaps.

On the 16th, members of the Samsung Electronics Labor Union Donghaeng (Donghaeng Union) shouted slogans in front of the Samsung Electronics Suwon Plant in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, protesting against the performance bonus gap. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to industry sources on September 5, the Donghaeng Union plans to continue rallies and one-person protests near Chairman Lee's residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, starting with an inaugural ceremony on the 18th.

A Donghaeng Union representative told Yonhap News and others that "there is no set end date as we intend to continue the protest for the long term," and that "on days when a rally notice cannot be filed, we will continue with one-person protests."

The Donghaeng Union claims that during the wage negotiations between labor and management at Samsung Electronics last May, the DX division was left out and that the compensation gap, especially compared to the Device Solutions (DS) division in charge of the semiconductor business, has become excessive.

The union’s demands include: ▲ allocating 1,000 company shares per employee in the DX division; ▲ creating a shared funding pool based on a fixed ratio of the company’s results and distributing it to all; ▲ applying the same company-wide base salary increase rate (base-up) uniformly across the organization.

Earlier, on August 21, they held a rally near the Samsung Electronics Seocho office in Gangnam-gu, arguing that the decline in profitability was due to management failures and calling for communication with company management.

Industry observers criticize the demand for 1,000 company shares per employee in the DX division as excessive given the management crisis the division is facing. They also point out that the union’s collective action is lacking justification, as it comes after a government-mediated wage agreement was already reached and ratified between labor and management.

The Donghaeng Union did not put forward additional compensation for the DX division or company share allocation as agenda items during the more than five months it participated as part of the joint bargaining team since December last year. The Donghaeng Union, along with the Early Enterprise Union and the National Samsung Electronics Union (Jeonsamno), joined as part of the joint bargaining team last May but withdrew on the grounds that DX division issues were not being addressed. The 2026 wage agreement, which was reached through Ministry of Employment and Labor mediation, passed the union’s member vote with a 73.7% approval rate and is currently in force.

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