Path opened for bonuses of up to 600 million won... Samsung Electronics labor-management agreement approved (combined)

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[Financial News] The tentative wage agreement reached by Samsung Electronics management and labor for 2026 was finally approved in a union vote with 73.7% support. The labor dispute, which had escalated to the brink of a general strike, has for now been contained. However, internal tensions remain over differences in performance bonuses between the Device Solutions and Device eXperience divisions, as well as between the memory and non-memory businesses. Managing those conflicts is expected to become a key challenge going forward.
The joint bargaining team of the Samsung Electronics labor union said the tentative deal was approved with 73.7% support, or 46,142 votes, in a ballot that closed at 10 a.m. on the 27th. Under union rules, the agreement was finalized once a majority of eligible voters participated and a majority of them voted in favor.
Voting began at 2 p.m. on the 22nd and continued until 10 a.m. that day. Of the 65,593 union members with voting rights, 62,616 participated, bringing the final turnout to 95.5%.
At the Samsung Electronics Union, the largest union, 55,333 of 57,332 eligible voters participated, for a turnout of 96.5%. At the National Samsung Electronics Union, the second-largest union, 7,283 of 8,261 members voted, for a turnout of 89%.
Among all participants, 46,142 voted in favor and 16,474 voted against. By union, 44,606 of the 55,333 voters at the Samsung Electronics Union supported the deal, while 10,727 opposed it, giving it a high approval rate of 80.6%. At the National Samsung Electronics Union, only 1,536 of 7,283 voters supported the deal, while 5,747 voted against, resulting in an approval rate of just 21.1%.
The Samsung Electronics labor union joint bargaining team is scheduled to hold a signing ceremony for the 2026 wage agreement at 11 a.m. on the same day. The team said, "We would like to express our deep gratitude to all members who took part in the approval vote," and added, "We will provide separate guidance on the details after the signing ceremony ends."
The agreement includes the creation of a new 'special management performance bonus' for the Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division. The bonus is based on stock grants funded by 10.5% of business performance. The allocation ratio for the bonus pool is 40% for company-wide use and 60% for individual business units. Under the tentative agreement, employees in the Memory Business are expected to receive bonuses worth up to 600 million won before tax, based on an annual salary of 100 million won, when the special management performance bonus is combined with the existing profit-sharing incentive, or OPI. By contrast, non-memory divisions such as Samsung System LSI Division and Samsung Electronics' Foundry Division are expected to receive only about 200 million won at the low end.
Meanwhile, the DX Division is not eligible for the special management performance bonus. Instead, it will receive stock worth 6 million won in addition to the existing OPI.
soup@fnnews.com Im Subin Reporter