DX Employees' Backlash Spreads Over “Hasty Agreement Focused on Memory”
Donghaeng Union Members Surge by 100,000 in a Single Day… Campaign to Reject Agreement Intensifies
Super-enterprise Union Clashes Head-on, Claiming “Donghaeng Union Has No Voting Rights”
Risk of General Strike Reignited if Tentative Agreement is Rejected
On the afternoon of May 22, 2026, as the vote on the tentative wage agreement between Samsung Electronics and its labor union begins, the executive committee of the Samsung Electronics Labor Union Donghaeng (Donghaeng Union), led by employees of the Device Experience (DX) division, is stating its position on the tentative agreement and the scope of participation in the vote in front of the main gate of Samsung Electronics in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. / Yonhap
As union member voting on Samsung Electronics’ tentative agreement on 2026 wages and performance bonuses began on the 22nd, backlash is spreading among employees in the DX (Device Experience) sector, which includes home appliances and smartphones.
As dissatisfaction grows that the performance bonus system was designed around the semiconductor division (DS, Device Solution), specifically the Memory Business Unit, a movement to reject the tentative agreement has even emerged, led by DX sector employees.
With the number of members in the Samsung Electronics Union Donghaeng (Donghaeng Union) surging by approximately 10,000 in just one day ahead of the vote on the tentative agreement, internal conflict is escalating into clashes between the unions.
Samsung Electronics management and labor signed the tentative agreement on 2026 wages and performance bonuses on the 20th.
The core of the agreement is the establishment of a separate Special Management Performance Bonus for the DS sector while maintaining the existing Overprofit Incentive (OPI).
The funding for the DS Special Management Performance Bonus has been set at 10.5% of business performance, selected through an agreement between management and labor. Including existing OPI funds, the performance bonus funds distributed to DS employees amount to approximately 12% of business performance.
The special management performance bonus is paid out in the full amount of after-tax treasury stock.
The fund allocation structure is based on a 40% divisional and 60% business unit ratio.
The payout rate for the common organization was set at 70% of the Memory Business Unit's payout rate.
The problem is that this structure effectively constitutes a compensation system centered on the Memory Business Unit.
Internally, calculations suggest that an employee in the Memory Business Unit with an annual salary of 80 million won could receive up to 600 million won in performance bonuses.
Employees in the loss-making System LSI and Foundry divisions are also being discussed as a possibility of receiving performance bonuses averaging around 200 million won.
In contrast, the DX Division, responsible for smartphones, home appliances, and TVs, and the Customer Service (CSS) business team received only 6 million won worth of treasury stock.
With the DX division facing a projected sluggish performance this year, it is highly likely that the existing OPI (Operating Profit Incentive) will also be set low.
Consequently, complaints are rapidly spreading within the company that "Memory receives astronomical compensation, while DX has been effectively sidelined."
An employee in Samsung Electronics' DX division stated, "We are all Samsung Electronics employees, yet the gap in performance bonuses has widened excessively," adding, "It feels like we have become completely different companies based on our business divisions, rather than a single company."
Another employee remarked, "Instead of pride in being a 'Samsung man,' the atmosphere is now one of fighting over our own interests," noting, "The lack of even voting rights has led to a deep sense of relative deprivation and resentment."
This backlash has led to a surge in union membership.
The number of members in the Donghaeng Union, a union centered on DX employees, increased from approximately 2,200 to about 12,800 immediately after the announcement of the tentative agreement.
It is reported that a large number of DX employees flocked to join after the Donghaeng Union announced that "participation in the vote on the tentative agreement is possible if you join before 2:00 PM on the 21st." However, the Samsung Electronics Branch of the Samsung Group’s supra-enterprise labor union (Samsung Group Union), which holds bargaining rights as part of the joint bargaining bloc, stated that it cannot recognize the voting rights of the Donghaeng Union members.
The Samsung Group Union explained that the Donghaeng Union lost its status as a member of the joint bargaining bloc after notifying them on the 4th that it was terminating its participation.
The union argues that since the tentative agreement was concluded between the joint bargaining bloc and management, voting rights belong only to members of the Samsung Group Union and the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno) who are currently participating in the joint bargaining bloc.
Through a public notice, the Samsung Group Union stated, “The tentative agreement on the 2026 wage agreement is an agreement concluded between management and the joint bargaining bloc,” adding, “Unions that did not participate in the joint bargaining bloc do not have voting rights on this tentative agreement.”
In response, the Donghaeng Union strongly protested, calling it a “change of stance.”
The Donghaeng Union claimed that the supra-enterprise union sent emails to each union requesting preparations for voting immediately after the tentative agreement was reached.
Baek Soon-an, Director of Policy Planning at the Donghaeng Union, stated, "We received emails from the supra-enterprise union on the evening of the 20th and the morning of the 21st asking us to prepare for the vote," adding, "It is difficult to accept the sudden claim that we do not have voting rights."
He continued, "We have hired a lawyer and are preparing a legal response," and revealed, "We are even considering a lawsuit to nullify the agreement if it is passed."
The Donghaeng Union and the Jeonsamno also held a press conference in front of the Samsung Electronics Suwon plant in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on the same day.
They criticized the agreement, stating, "This wage negotiation has effectively devolved into a negotiation for performance bonuses for the Memory Business Unit," and called it a "hasty agreement that thoroughly excluded the DX sector."
Lee Ho-seok, Head of the Jeonsamno Suwon Branch, argued, "The separate proposal prepared by the existing Joint Struggle Headquarters was hardly even discussed," claiming, "Only a compromise proposal centered on performance bonuses was hastily reached."
The Donghaeng Union asserted, "The separate proposal prepared by the Joint Struggle Headquarters was hardly discussed at all," and claimed, "Only a compromise proposal centered on performance bonuses was hastily produced." Koo Jung-hwan, Secretary General of the Donghaeng Union, stated, “The executive of the Multi-Enterprise Union is attempting to exclude us from the vote out of fear of the voices of the 10,000 new members.”
The Samsung Electronics Union will hold a vote on the tentative agreement from 2 p.m. today until 10 a.m. on the 27th.
If a majority of union members participate in the vote and a majority of voters vote in favor, the tentative agreement will be ratified.
If it is rejected, labor and management must return to the negotiation table.
Consequently, the possibility is being raised that the risk of a general strike at Samsung Electronics, which had been barely contained, could resurface.
Choi Seung-ho, Chairman of the Multi-Enterprise Union, announced in a notice just before the vote, “We will use the results of the members’ vote as our report card,” adding, “If it is ratified, we will further strengthen the organization to improve areas that are lacking.”
He continued, “If it is rejected, we will delegate the 2026 negotiations to the remaining executive and proceed with a vote of confidence.”
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