Samsung Electronics Union Conflict Deepens Amid Non-Semiconductor Member Departures

Non-semiconductor division members of the Samsung Electronics labor union have continued to collectively withdraw, expressing dissatisfaction with the semiconductor division's demands for performance-based bonuses. This situation highlights the potential for increasingly complex labor-management conflicts, with withdrawal requests surging on the supra-corporate union's Samsung Electronics Branch website, intensifying the dispute.

Members seeking to leave voiced their discontent, stating that the supra-corporate union demanded a 15% performance bonus based on operating profit from the Device Solutions (DS) division, which handles the semiconductor business, without presenting similar conditions for the Device Experience (DX) division, which has shown sluggish performance. Even within the DS division, departments like Foundry and System LSI, which are operating at a deficit, are reportedly demanding equal treatment as part of the DS division, leading to increased backlash from the DX division. A perspective emerged from the DX division suggesting the union is prioritizing the solidarity of the DS division, excluding the minority DX division, to maintain its majority status and push for a strike.

Factors exacerbating the conflict include the union's recruitment of staff by offering a 3 million won allowance for those participating in a strike for 15 days or more, and the decision in January to increase membership dues from 10,000 won to 50,000 won. These actions amplified members' dissatisfaction.

With the deepening internal union conflict, analyses suggest that the union's representativeness and the justification for a strike will be weakened. Considering that the DX division accounts for about 20% of the total 74,000 members of the supra-corporate union, the possibility of the union proceeding with a strike remains.