"Performance Bonuses Should Be Shared Equitably" vs. "Why Should We?"... Samsung Electronics Unions Clash Ahead of Post-Mediation

Union-Union Conflict Over Performance Bonus Distribution Ahead of Post-Mediation

Internal Disagreements Within the Union... Calls to Reclaim Bargaining Rights

Management and Union Still Far Apart

Samsung Electronics labor and management will officially resume negotiations with government mediation. However, tensions are rising within the union itself over how to distribute performance bonuses.

Yonhap News Agency reported on the 10th, citing industry sources, that labor and management at Samsung Electronics are scheduled to proceed with post-mediation procedures on the 11th and 12th.

The Samsung flag is fluttering at Samsung Electronics Seocho Building in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

However, disagreements continue within the Joint Struggle Headquarters over the negotiation agenda. A key point of contention is whether to include the "company-wide common pool" for performance bonuses, which would allow all employees across business divisions, not just those in semiconductors, to share in the bonus resources.

The National Samsung Electronics Union (Jeonsamno), the second-largest union, and members from the DX (Device Experience) division, which handles finished products, believe that securing a company-wide common pool is necessary to distribute performance bonuses more equitably. In contrast, the Samsung Electronics branch of the Super Enterprise Union, which is representing labor at this post-mediation stage, maintains its stance that the common pool item will not be included in the agenda.

At a rally held in front of Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, last April, members of the Samsung Electronics Labor Union Joint Struggle Headquarters were shouting slogans. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

It is known that about 80% of the 73,000 total union members in the Super Enterprise Union are from the DS (Device Solutions) division, which handles semiconductors. As a result, there are concerns that negotiations are overly focused on the DS division's performance bonus demands. There are also complaints that calls to improve the treatment of employees in the underperforming DX division are being effectively excluded from the negotiation agenda.

As the DS-focused approach continues even at what is considered the last official negotiation table before a strike, union members have begun to publicly criticize the Super Enterprise Union's dominance.

Within company and union communities, some are even calling for Jeonsamno to reclaim the bargaining rights it had delegated to the Super Enterprise Union earlier this year. There are also demands to replace the labor-side negotiating representatives participating in the post-mediation process.

Given that labor-management negotiations since last December broke down after about four months and that mediation by the National Labor Relations Commission also failed, some say that Jeonsamno should now take the lead in these post-mediation negotiations instead of the Super Enterprise Union.

The third-largest union, Samsung Electronics Labor Union Companion (Donghaeng Union), has withdrawn from the Joint Struggle Headquarters and sent official letters demanding information sharing and an end to discrimination, bringing inter-union conflict to the surface.

In addition, there is a significant gap between management and labor, with management promising the industry's highest-level rewards for memory division employees through special incentives, while the union insists that 15% of operating profit should be paid as performance bonuses and that the cap on performance bonuses should be abolished.

Given this situation, industry observers believe it may be difficult to reach an agreement, as the union has yet to unify its internal positions.

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