Members of Samsung Electronics Labor Union wave union flags during a massive rally at the company’s main semiconductor production base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Samsung Electronics labor unions staged a mass rally on Thursday, stepping up pressure on management with the threat of a full‑scale strike next month amid the critical industry upturn for the memory chipmaker.
A joint labor alliance of three of the company’s major unions — Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU), National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) and Samsung Electronics Co. Union (SECU) — held a rally at the company’s main semiconductor production campus in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. The alliance claimed the rally drew out approximately 40,000 members, while police estimated 30,000.
The coalition has been demanding the company to remove the cap on performance‑based bonuses with more transparent calculation criteria and allocate 15 percent of annual operating profit to such payouts. Among the unions, SELU recently became Samsung’s first majority union with about 74,000 members and won a legal recognition as the representative of its workers.
“The company has warned of crisis every year and, even now as it eyes the global leader (in the industry), it tells us not to let our guard down,” the union’s chair, Choi Seung-ho, said during the rally.
Members of Samsung Electronics' labor alliance hold a massive rally at the company’s main semiconductor production base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
“It was not management, but you, the union members, who made Samsung the world’s no. 1 in semiconductors, who kept production running, improved processes and stayed up all night to raise yields.”
Based on projections that Samsung’s annual operating profit could reach up to 300 trillion won ($202.62 billion) this year, the union’s 15 percent demand would yield more than 40 trillion won in bonuses, topping the company’s R&D spending of 37.7 trillion won in 2025.
The company has previously countered with a proposal to offer special bonuses exceeding the current cap if its Device Solutions division, which houses the semiconductor business, achieves an industry-leading performance, but talks have stalled as unions insist on a permanent structural change.
Members of Samsung Electronics' labor alliance wave banners calling for scrapping the company's ceiling on incentives during a rally at the company’s main semiconductor production base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Source: Korea Times News
