![Union members chant slogans at a rally outside Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi province on April 23. [Photo=Yonhap]](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2026/05/03/20260503102912634026.jpg)
Resignations from a Samsung Electronics labor union are rising, led by members outside the company’s semiconductor division, as complaints grow that the union’s performance-bonus demands favor chip workers. The union has warned of an 18-day general strike starting on the 21st, and a decision to keep dues automatically deducted during the dispute has brought long-simmering grievances into the open.
Industry officials said that posts seeking to withdraw from the Samsung Electronics branch of the cross-company union have surged on the union website’s message board. Daily withdrawal requests that had typically stayed below 100 climbed past 500 on April 28 and exceeded 1,000 on April 29, according to the officials.
The trend has spread through internal company boards and workplace online communities, where members have posted proof of withdrawal. Departing members said the union has prioritized the interests of workers in the Device Solutions (DS) division, which runs Samsung’s semiconductor business, while ignoring demands from other divisions.
About 80% of the union’s members are DS employees, and DS members are also leading the planned strike, the officials said.
Ahead of the walkout, the union has demanded that only the DS division receive performance bonuses equal to 15% of operating profit with no cap. It has not presented any conditions for the Device eXperience (DX) division, which has weaker results, the officials said.
DX, which handles finished products, saw first-quarter operating profit fall 36% from a year earlier, affected by higher semiconductor prices from DS, the officials said.
In that context, critics said the union’s proposal would leave DS employees receiving performance bonuses close to 600 million won per person this year, while DX employees would face the prospect of high-intensity business restructuring without any bonus.
Tensions have also risen after the union began recruiting staff for the strike, offering 3 million won in allowances to those who participate for at least 15 days. The union also decided to raise dues for May to 50,000 won from 10,000 won.
In addition, the union announced late last month it would shift dues collection to a checkoff system, under which the company deducts dues from monthly pay and transfers them to the union, potentially exposing whether an employee is a member.
After those moves became known, posts flooded internal online boards criticizing the dues increase. “It’s hard to accept raising dues when pay will also fall during a strike,” one post said. Another wrote, “DX isn’t even being looked after — why should we raise dues beyond covering leadership legal costs and even pay favors to strike staff?”
Still, with DX members making up about 20% of the union, observers said the union is still likely to press ahead with the strike.
A Samsung Electronics employee said, “We’re in the same union, but the atmosphere is becoming more divided depending on which division you belong to,” adding, “It’s painful to see the camaraderie and workplace culture built up over years breaking down as conflict within the union deepens.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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