SEOUL — Samsung Electronics' cross-enterprise labor union — the first in the company's history to achieve majority status — has fallen below the threshold of 64,500 members required to hold that designation, shedding 17,730 members from its April 7 peak of 76,000 to stand at 58,270 as of June 4, according to union disclosures cited by the Korea Herald and local media.
The collapse in membership follows a 2026 wage settlement that created a roughly 100-fold disparity in performance bonuses between Samsung's semiconductor and consumer-electronics arms: workers in the Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees memory and foundry operations, stand to receive up to ₩600 million (approx. USD 435,000) each under a special management performance bonus, while their counterparts in the Device eXperience (DX) division — handling smartphones, televisions and appliances — received approximately ₩6 million (approx. USD 4,350) in company shares.
From a Historic First to a Majority-Less Body
The Samsung Electronics chapter of Samsung Group's cross-enterprise union was the first in the conglomerate's history to achieve majority-union status, a designation under Korean labor law that confers exclusive collective-bargaining rights. Membership climbed to a peak of roughly 76,000 in early April 2026 as workers rallied around annual wage talks. The trajectory reversed once the wage agreement was finalized: the union counted 73,300 members on May 8, fell below 70,000 after a leadership-allowance controversy erupted in mid-May, and crossed below the 64,500 majority line on June 3 to 4.
"A performance bonus gap in non-semiconductor divisions and controversy over monthly position allowances amounting to several million won paid to union leadership drove the large-scale member exodus," en.bloomingbit.io reported, citing disclosures from the union.
A Three-Way Split
The cross-enterprise union's decline has reshuffled Samsung's internal labor landscape into three distinct blocs. The National Samsung Electronics Labor Union now counts 20,968 members, while the Donghaeng Labor Union — which had opposed the wage deal — has grown to 21,390 members, surging from roughly 2,600 before the voting deadline to approximately 13,000 within a single day as disaffected DX workers shifted allegiance. Donghaeng voted 99.5% against the tentative agreement, compared with 80.6% approval in the DS-centered cross-enterprise union and just 21.1% backing from the National union.
An injunction sought by five DX employees at the Suwon District Court was dismissed on May 26, with the court finding no "serious flaws" in the bargaining procedures.
Implications for Samsung's Labor Relations
Loss of majority status strips the cross-enterprise union of its exclusive bargaining-representative rights, opening the floor for rival bodies to seek a share of the negotiating table. The development adds a layer of institutional turbulence to Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) at a moment when the semiconductor boom has lifted the stock to all-time highs and briefly propelled the company past Meta to become the world's tenth-largest company by market capitalization. Whether the cross-enterprise union can rebuild its membership — or whether Donghaeng's rapid growth tips the balance of power — will likely define Samsung's next annual wage cycle.
Sources: Korea Herald, en.bloomingbit.io, UPI, Chosunbiz, Maeil Business Newspaper
