Samsung Union to Rally Over Pay Gap After Chip Division Receives Exclusive Incentives

Samsung Electronics Company Union will hold a rally Thursday at the company’s plant in Suwon, Gyeonggi province, under the slogan “same company, same rights,” South China Morning Post reported. The union, composed mainly of employees in the Device Experience division that makes smartphones and appliances, seeks to protest a compensation gap between the DX and Device Solutions chipmaking divisions that reaches nearly 100-fold.

The rally responds to a May wage agreement that granted performance incentives of up to 600 million won (US$402,900) exclusively to DS division employees.

As of Wednesday morning, the union counted 28,569 members, or roughly 55 per cent of the DX division’s 51,700 workers. It became the company’s second-largest union after DX employees joined in opposition to the May terms. A day earlier, the National Samsung Electronics Union, which has 22,700 members, set up a memorial altar at the same Suwon site.

Samsung Electronics has operated its DX and DS divisions as separate organizations within the same company. South China Morning Post reported that the recent wage agreement is strengthening the silo mentality between the two units. The DX division previously generated operating profits that funded investment in the chip business, according to the union.