Workers in Samsung Electronics’ consumer-device division are preparing to rally over a widening pay gap in the company’s highly profitable semiconductor business. The Donghaeng union, which represents mainly employees in Samsung’s Device eXperience (DX) division, expects around 3,000 people to attend a demonstration in Seoul and is demanding additional compensation equivalent to 1,000 Samsung Electronics shares per employee, as well as renewed negotiations over the 2026 wage agreement.
According to The Korea Herald, the uneven financial performance of Samsung’s two major businesses is shaping the wage talk. Between April and June, the semiconductor-focused Device Solutions (DS) division recorded 89.2 trillion won ($64.3 billion) in operating profit, while DX reported an operating loss of 800 billion won. Rising memory prices, driven partly by strong artificial intelligence demand, have increased costs for Samsung’s smartphones, televisions and home appliances.
The workers argue that the current compensation system does not adequately reflect their contribution to Samsung’s wider business. The union maintains that DX earnings helped support investment in semiconductors during weaker periods for the chip market and says employees should receive greater recognition as profits are distributed across the company.
Samsung management continues to defend performance-based compensation and the separate management of its DS and DX businesses. Meanwhile, the disagreement is already affecting future labour relations, with the enterprise union representing many semiconductor workers declining to form a joint bargaining group with Donghaeng for the 2027 wage negotiations.
The dispute highlights a broader issue in the electronics industry: how companies distribute gains and losses across different groups of workers as semiconductor demand, artificial intelligence and consumer technology markets evolve. For Samsung employees, the debate is increasingly focused on fair compensation, collective bargaining and recognition of workers’ contributions across the electronics value chain.
The full article is first published by The Korea Herald. Read the original article written by Tech Reporter Moon Joon-hyun here.
