Samsung Mobile Workers Revolt Over $4,000 Bonus While Memory Employees Pocket $400,000 Each, Vowing Court Injunction To Block The Deal
Samsung’s new pay deal is creating more headaches than the ones it purports to solve, especially after a nearly 100x difference in implied bonuses between various divisions of the tech conglomerate has caused something of an all-out revolt, with the union that caters to Samsung’s employees working in its home appliances and mobile division now vowing to seek a court injunction.
Samsung’s internal cohesion is ripping at the seams in the wake of a new pay deal that is proving to be particularly lucrative for its memory-focused workers
As we reported recently, to resolve the threat of debilitating strike, Samsung has reached a tentative deal with some of its unionized workers.
Under the terms of the deal, Samsung’s semiconductor employees are now all set to receive a special performance bonus that is equal to 10.5 percent of the tech behemoth’s annual operating profits, provided that such profits exceed 200 trillion won ($132 billion) from 2026 to 2028 and 100 trillion won ($66 billion) from 2029 to 2035.
Also, based on the current expectations that Samsung will earn an operating profit of around 300 trillion won this year, each memory-focused employee stands to take home around 600 million won (~$400,000) in bonuses this year alone.
Do note that Samsung’s semiconductor division workers will also get a 40 percent share of the company’s total bonus pool, which is separate from the special bonus scheme that has been linked to the company’s annual operating profit.
Samsung’s labor dispute has just been temporarily settled, but now employees from its home appliance and smartphone divisions are furious.
Here is what happened.
The core of Samsung’s latest labor agreement is the performance bonus. And the biggest winner is clearly the…
— Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) May 22, 2026
The situation, however, is less than ideal for Samsung’s employees working in other divisions. For instance, Samsung Mobile employees will take home just 6 million won (~$4,000) under the new deal, as calculated by the tipster Ice Universe on figures provided by YTN. Please note that the dollar figures presented in the above X post are based on a flawed exchange rate. We’ve manually corrected those errors.
Similarly, the LSI division employees will take home around 160 million won (~$100,000) in bonuses. Given the 100x difference in the bonuses for Samsung workers in memory and mobile divisions, the situation has predictably turned explosive.
Firstly, the union that caters to Samsung’s employees working in its home appliances and mobile division has declared that it will seek a court injunction against the deal.
Secondly, Samsung’s shareholders are also threatening a lawsuit unless the deal is put to a shareholder vote.
Thirdly, to give you an idea of just how volatile this situation is, the voting turnout for deal ratification has already eclipsed 66 percent on day one. Do note that Samsung’s unionized workers will vote on the deal from May 21 till May 28.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025.
As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover.
When I’m not writing, I’m traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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