Samsung Electronics' DX union vows rally over bonus gap, targets 2,000–3,000 attendees

A union representing workers in Samsung Electronics' DX (Device Experience) division — which covers home appliances, TVs and smartphones — plans to hold a rally demanding that management address the outcome of the 2026 wage negotiations.

The Samsung Electronics Labor Union Donghang, known as the Donghang union, is set to hold a membership rally near Samsung Electronics' Suwon campus on July 16.

"We intend to hold a rally to raise our voices against the unreasonable sidelining of the DX division in this year's wage negotiations," the union said, adding that it is targeting a turnout of up to 2,000 to 3,000 members.

Samsung Electronics and its labor representatives earlier reached a wage agreement centered on the creation of a special performance bonus funded by 10.5 percent of the DS (Device Solutions, semiconductor) division's business results.

Under the deal, DS division employees are expected to receive performance bonuses of up to 600 million won ($390,000) per person, while DX division workers will receive company shares worth around 6 million won — a disparity that has fueled growing discontent within the division.

In protest over the bonus gap, workers staged a collective action last month, coming to work dressed in black.

A separate union, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union, has also asked DS division chief Jeon Young-hyun — following a similar request to DX division head and Samsung Electronics co-CEO Roh Tae-moon — to publicly address the compensation gap and the sense of relative deprivation felt by DX workers.