The union representing consumer electronics workers at Samsung Electronics announced on Tuesday that it has filed a petition with a local South Korean court, seeking to block a vote on a proposed pay agreement. The benefits of the agreement are primarily concentrated on employees in the company's chip division.
This agreement, brokered by the South Korean government and reached last week, successfully averted an 18-day strike by 48,000 workers. Benefiting from the artificial intelligence industry boom, Samsung's memory chip division has seen a significant surge in profits, and its employees are set to receive substantial bonuses.
Union employees began voting last Friday, with the process scheduled to conclude on Wednesday morning. It is widely expected that the agreement will ultimately be approved.
The Samsung Electronics Union (SECU), which has approximately 13,000 members mostly from the mobile phone, television, and home appliance divisions, issued a statement explaining that it took legal action after being informed it had no right to participate in this vote. The union had withdrawn from the negotiation team even before the agreement was finalized due to disagreements.
The Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU) led the negotiations. On Tuesday, it reported that over 90% of its 57,290 eligible members had cast their votes, though specific results have not yet been disclosed.
For the agreement to take effect, two conditions must be met: more than half of the eligible union members must participate in the vote, and a majority of those voting must support it. If these conditions are not met, both parties must restart the entire negotiation process.
The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) has also expressed dissatisfaction with the agreement's terms. Its head, Lee Ho-seok, told Reuters that some of its consumer electronics workers are voting against the proposal.
He further stated that some wafer fabrication plant workers within Samsung's chip division are also unhappy with the agreement. Despite slim chances, they still hope the agreement will ultimately be rejected.
"We hope to create a miracle," he said.
According to the union's website, the NSEU has about 20,000 members, the vast majority of whom are from the chip division.
Samsung's exports account for approximately one-quarter of South Korea's total exports, and the resolution of this pay agreement has brought relief across various sectors in the country. However, this labor dispute has also exposed significant internal divisions within the company regarding the distribution of benefits from AI development.
This year, Samsung's memory chip employees are set to receive a combined bonus of about $416,000. Wafer fab and logic chip design department employees will receive the next highest, yet still substantial, bonuses, while bonuses for employees in other divisions like mobile phones and home appliances are further reduced.
A small group of individual shareholders has also stated that if the union votes to approve the agreement, they will file a lawsuit. These shareholders argue that certain clauses in the agreement are illegal as they were not approved by shareholders.
Samsung Electronics' stock price rose 2.2% at Tuesday's close. Since the agreement was reached last week, its stock has accumulated an 8% gain, though this performance lags behind its competitor SK Hynix, whose stock surged 18% over the same period.
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