[비즈한국] The backlash from employees in the Device eXperience (DX) division, responsible for Samsung Electronics' finished goods, is now heading to the private residence of Chairman Lee Jae-yong. The collective action, which began in June with a "wear black" campaign, continued with rallies at the Suwon complex in July and near the Samsung Electronics Seocho office in August, is now extending to the vicinity of the group leader's home. They have even placed an advertisement in New York's Times Square, protesting against workforce optimization measures following the transition to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
While the demands may appear varied on the surface, they are rooted in the growing frustration among DX division employees. During this year's wage negotiations, a new "special management performance bonus" was established for the Device Solutions (DS) division—responsible for semiconductors—funded by 10.5% of the business performance agreed upon by labor and management. Conversely, DX employees were provided with company stock worth 6 million won per person, sparking controversy over compensation inequality. The Samsung Electronics Labor Union "Donghaeng," which primarily represents DX employees, is demanding 1,000 shares of company stock per employee and the creation of a company-wide common performance fund.
The Donghaeng union plans to hold a launch ceremony on September 18 and begin rallies and one-person protests near Chairman Lee's residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The union intends to continue these actions indefinitely. They have also stated that they will carry out one-person protests on days when rallies are not officially registered.
The union has three main demands: the provision of 1,000 shares of company stock per DX employee, the creation and distribution of a common performance fund based on a percentage of company-wide results, and the application of an identical base salary increase rate across the entire company. Donghaeng argues that because the high profits generated by the DX division in the past were reinvested into other businesses such as semiconductors to boost Samsung's overall competitiveness, it is unfair to determine compensation based solely on current departmental performance. During the August rally at the Seocho office, the union stated, "We are not simply asking for the same as the DS division," adding that they are willing to verify the company's claims if management provides objective criteria for assessing contribution.
A simple estimate of the 1,000-share demand is around 13 trillion won… Actual shares received were 22
1,000 shares of company stock amounts to a significant sum.
In July, Samsung Electronics provided company stock as a performance bonus to 49,345 employees in the DX division and the CSS business team. To fulfill the agreement made by labor and management in May to provide stock worth 6 million won per person, the company disposed of 1,083,434 shares. Each employee received 22.65 shares, with 22 shares issued as stock and the remaining 0.65 shares paid out in cash.
However, these 49,345 individuals cannot be equated to the entire DX staff currently targeted by the union's 1,000-share demand. According to Donghaeng, as of June 18, the total number of DX employees was 51,717. If one were to assume 1,000 shares were given to each of these individuals, it would require 51,717,000 shares. Based on the closing price of Samsung Electronics on September 4 (255,500 won), this would amount to approximately 13.2137 trillion won. This is merely a rough estimate, as the number of employees may have changed and the union has not specified a concrete total demand amount.
Compared to the actual shares provided by the company in July, the gap is massive. Each employee received 22 shares, with the fractional 0.65 shares settled in cash. Based on the July 6 closing price of 318,000 won, the value of the 22 shares was 6,996,000 won. Adding the 173,920 won paid in cash for the fractional shares, the total value was approximately 7.17 million won.
The reason the union is demanding 1,000 shares, which is far more than the 22 shares actually received, is that their demand is not based solely on this year's DX performance. The union argues that the profits earned by the DX division during boom periods were used to strengthen overall company competitiveness—such as in semiconductors—rather than being distributed as additional performance bonuses. They explain that the 1,000-share figure represents their view of the compensation owed for these past contributions.
On the other hand, critics within and outside the company argue that a demand for stock worth well over 10 trillion won is excessive. In particular, Samsung Electronics’ labor and management had already reached a wage agreement in May through government mediation. Since then, the Donghaeng union and others have filed for injunctions in court to challenge the validity of the wage agreement, but these were rejected. Some have pointed out that there is a lack of procedural justification for re-demanding issues that have already been settled.
10.5% special performance bonus for DS based on business results… 6 million won in stock for DX
The frustration among DX employees began to grow in earnest during the May wage negotiations.
Samsung Electronics’ labor and management agreed to use 10.5% of the business performance, selected by mutual agreement, as the source for a special management performance bonus for the DS division. This is a separate form of compensation from the existing Overall Profit Incentive (OPI). The structure involves determining the metrics for "business performance" through separate labor-management consultations.
At the time, media outlets calculated potential bonuses by assuming the DS division's operating profit would serve as the performance metric. It was projected that an employee in the memory business unit with an annual salary of 100 million won could receive up to approximately 600 million won combined with the OPI, while System LSI and Foundry employees could receive around 200 million won. These figures were projections based on assumed future performance and calculation methods, and they may differ from actual payouts.
The same special performance bonus system was not applied to the DX division. Instead, it was decided to provide DX and CSS business team employees with company stock worth 6 million won. As Samsung Electronics' stock price subsequently rose, the value per person, based on the July 6 closing price of 22 shares plus the cash for fractional shares, totaled approximately 7.17 million won.
This disparity changed the landscape of the union. According to Donghaeng, as of June 18, it had 26,117 members, exceeding half of the 51,717 DX division employees at the time. DX employees staged campaigns in workplaces such as Gangdong in Seoul, Gumi, and Suwon, wearing black clothes or black masks to protest the compensation gap.
The intensity of the collective action gradually increased. Approximately 7,000 people (organizer estimate) participated in a rally held near the Suwon complex on July 16. At that time, the union officially demanded, for the first time, compensation equivalent to 1,000 shares per person and the creation of a common performance fund.
About a month later, on August 21, the location shifted to the front of the Samsung Electronics Seocho office in Seoul. Estimates showed about 2,000 participants according to police and 4,500 according to the organizers. The union claimed that the decline in DX division profitability was not the employees' fault but the result of management's decisions, and demanded direct communication with top executives.
This time, they have taken it a step further by announcing long-term rallies near Chairman Lee Jae-yong's residence. The focus of their collective action has shifted from company workplaces and offices to the group leader himself.
DX union reaches New York's Times Square… Issues of 'workforce optimization' raised beyond bonuses
The union's complaints go beyond just compensation.
On the 5th (local time), the Donghaeng union displayed a 15-second advertisement on a billboard in New York's Times Square. The video featured the phrases "GREAT PRODUCTS BEGIN WITH PEOPLE" and "WE ARE STILL HERE" in both Korean and English. The video was broadcast every hour at the 35-minute mark, starting from midnight that day.
The New York advertisement focused not on performance bonuses, but on the company's AI transition and workforce management. The Donghaeng union stated that as Samsung Electronics pursues its AI transition, it is breaking down tasks and measuring efficiency to determine necessary staffing levels, and that this transition must not be used as a tool for layoffs.
The Donghaeng union has also demanded verification of whether the personal information of its members was leaked in relation to the so-called "blacklist" allegations that emerged from the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group's super-union. Therefore, it is inaccurate to view the New York advertisement solely as a means to publicize the demand for 1,000 shares of stock. It is closer to seeing the labor-management conflict, which began with compensation gaps, as having broadened to include concerns about workforce efficiency, organizational management, and the personal data of union members.
The vastly different performance environments of Samsung's DX and DS divisions are also part of the conflict's background. According to Samsung Electronics' first-quarter business report, the DX division's operating profit was 2.9677 trillion won, while the DS division's was 53.6633 trillion won. While these figures include internal transactions and have limitations for direct comparison, the trend of this year's company profits being concentrated in the semiconductor division is clear.
The more the company heavily reflects performance by business unit in compensation, the greater the gap in how DS and DX employees perceive their rewards. Although Samsung Electronics' labor and management concluded wage negotiations ahead of a total strike this year, the controversy over compensation equity between business units has intensified since the agreement.
The likelihood of the company accepting the Donghaeng union's demand for 1,000 shares is currently unclear. The scale is well over 10 trillion won even by simple calculation, and this year's wage negotiations have already been settled. Conversely, the Donghaeng union argues that performance should not be distributed based solely on a single year's results for a specific business unit and continues to demand the creation of a company-wide common fund.
The pushback from DX employees, which began with the "wear black" campaign in June, has spread from the Suwon complex and Samsung Electronics Seocho office to New York's Times Square and the vicinity of Chairman Lee's home. If the company and the union do not find a separate solution by the 18th, when the long-term rally in front of Chairman Lee's residence is set to begin, the conflict over compensation within Samsung Electronics may continue beyond three months and become protracted.