Workers at Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS), the company's semiconductor division, previously threatened to strike in May. However, a deal between their union and the company granted substantial performance bonuses. This issue has resurfaced as another union, representing the Device Experience (DX) division, expresses dissatisfaction over bonus discrepancies.
The DX branch, which manufactures smartphones, TVs, and home appliances, plans to hold a rally near the Samsung Electronics plant in Suwon on July 16.
The protest stems from significant disparities in expected bonuses: workers in the DX division are projected to receive KRW 6 million, while their counterparts in the DS division may receive bonuses as high as KRW 600 million, a hundredfold difference.
In a preliminary display of discontent, DX employees donned black clothing at work last month. An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 union members, out of a total of 28,000, are expected to join the rally next week.
“We plan to hold a rally during this year's wage talks to protest the unfair sidelining of the DX division,” stated a union representative (machine translation).
Samsung DX employees showing up to work in black clothes as a form of protestIn the meantime, Samsung Electronics is poised to unveil an impressive 18-fold increase in operating profit for the second quarter (April-June). According to Reuters, Samsung is expected to report KRW 86 trillion in operating profit ($56.4 billion), a significant rise from KRW 4.7 trillion reported in Q2 2025.
This remarkable growth is primarily attributed to DRAM, HBM, and NAND chips. Per its agreement with employees, Samsung intends to allocate 10.5% of the DS operating profits as performance bonuses to those in the semiconductor division, with further details anticipated upon the release of the Q2 report.
Source (in Korean) | Via
