Samsung Electronics Union Starts Vote on Tentative Wage Deal Through May 27

Samsung Electronics Co. union members began voting on a tentative wage agreement on May 22. If approved, the deal will take final legal effect.

The union is holding the vote from 2 p.m. on May 22 through 10 a.m. on May 27. Voting rights were granted to union members registered as of 2 p.m. on May 21.

The agreement will be approved if more than half of eligible members cast ballots and a majority of those voters back the proposal. If support fails to top 50%, the agreement will be rejected and labor and management will have to renegotiate. The vote is being conducted electronically.

The tentative 2026 wage agreement reached on May 20 includes a new special management performance bonus funded by 10.5% of operating profit from the semiconductor business division. It also includes a housing loan program of up to $362,000 and an average wage increase of 6.2%, consisting of a 4.1% base-pay increase and a 2.1% performance-based raise.

Brokerages forecast that Samsung Electronics will generate about $217.4 billion in operating profit this year. If that outlook holds, $22.8 billion, or 10.5% of operating profit, would be used to fund the special bonus. Employees in the memory chip division, which is leading companywide earnings, are estimated to receive as much as $435,000 in bonuses this year, including the new special management performance bonus and the existing OPI, or excess profit incentive.

The non-memory chip division, which is projected to post a loss this year, would also receive at least $116,000 in special management performance bonuses under the shared allocation standard of 40% for Samsung's Device Solutions, or DS, semiconductor division.

Park Su-rim, Hankyung.com reporter paksr365@hankyung.com