Samsung wage deal passes but sparks worker protest

Samsung Electronics' tentative 2026 wage agreement passed a union vote Wednesday with 73.7 percent support, a week after labor and management reached a last-minute deal that narrowly averted a planned strike. The agreement won approval from 62,616 of 65,593 eligible voters, representing a 95.5 percent turnout. The deal creates a special management performance bonus pool equivalent to 10.5 percent of operating profit from Samsung's semiconductor business, which will be distributed to employees in the Device Solutions division. According to industry estimates, if Samsung records 300 trillion won in operating profit this year, memory business employees earning annual salaries of 100 million won could receive roughly 550 million won in special management bonuses before taxes, paid in company shares. Combined with the company's regular excess profit incentive, which is capped at 50 percent of annual salary, total performance-related compensation could reach around 600 million won. However, the vote faced a last-minute legal challenge from the Samsung Electronics Donghaeng Labor Union, representing employees outside the chip business in the Device eXperience division, which oversees smartphones, TVs and home appliances. Donghaeng filed for an injunction with the Suwon District Court to suspend the ballot, claiming its members were unfairly excluded from voting. The union's membership surged from around 2,600 to 13,000 in a single day as discontent grew among DX employees over the tentative deal, which they argue leaves them receiving only about 6 million won worth of company shares compared to much larger bonuses for chip division workers. Park Jae-yong, head of Donghaeng, accused the representative union of denying minority unions equal treatment, stating the agreement showed the company and representative union believed decisions should simply be accepted regardless of flaws.