[Edaily Reporter Choi Oh-hyun ] The SamsungElectronics Labor Union “Donghaeng” (Donghaeng Union), which primarily represents the DX (Digital Experience) division, held another mass rally on the 5th to demand the elimination of compensation disparities between divisions.

At 5:00 p.m. that day, the Donghaeng Union held a large-scale rally at the Suwon campus to denounce management, including SamsungElectronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee. It is reported that approximately 2,000 people attended the rally, though the exact number of attendees has not yet been tallied.

Banners bearing slogans such as “Donghaeng will not stop. From now on, it’s a struggle” and “Donghaeng takes action. A united SamsungElectronics” were displayed at the site. The protesters argued that there was no compensation plan for DX division employees during this year’s wage negotiations and demanded a responsible response from management. They also urged management to engage in joint negotiations for next year’s wage talks and other matters.

The rift within SamsungElectronics—triggered by the semiconductor (DS) division’s special performance bonuses, which amount to hundreds of millions of won—appears to be deepening. The Donghaeng Union protested that the opinions of DX division employees were not reflected in the negotiations after it withdrew from the joint bargaining team during this year’s wage negotiations and was subsequently excluded from the vote on the tentative agreement. Subsequently, when the largest union—the Samsung Group Inter-Company Labor Union’s SamsungElectronics Branch (Inter-Company Union)—refused to form next year’s joint bargaining team, the conflict over the performance bonus disparity escalated into a dispute over bargaining rights among the unions.

Amid this situation, efforts are underway to establish a sixth labor union within SamsungElectronics. According to the Inter-Company Union, which is composed primarily of DS employees, an application to establish the “SamsungElectronics Union Shop Labor Union” was filed with the Gumi Branch Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor the previous day.

Regarding this, the Cross-Enterprise Union stated, “We have confirmed that Han Moon-seok, former head of the Donghaeng Gumi Branch, and Yoon Ju-yong, former secretary-general of the Cross-Enterprise Union, led the establishment,” adding, “We understand that there has recently been severe conflict between the former and current executive boards of the Donghaeng Union, and we believe this is a result of that.” They further added, “Even if a new union is formed in the DX division, we will thoroughly prepare for direct negotiations.”

In response, the Donghaeng Union immediately pushed back. In a statement, the union countered, “Donghaeng has absolutely no connection to the establishment of the sixth union,” and argued, “The interpretation that the conflict between Donghaeng’s former and current executive boards led to the establishment of the sixth union does not align with the facts.”

Meanwhile, with the procedure for unifying the bargaining channel scheduled for this coming December, tensions are expected to persist during next year’s wage negotiations if the conflict between the unions remains unresolved.