HQ of Samsung Electronics (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – A labor union representing Samsung affiliates has secured the membership of a majority of workers at Samsung Electronics, becoming the first to do so, industry sources said Thursday, which, if confirmed, would allow the union to independently enter talks with company management over wage negotiations and other collective bargaining.
According to the sources, the Samsung Electronics branch had 62,600 employees as members as of Thursday afternoon, meeting the union’s claimed threshold of 62,500.
Under labor law, a union represented by more than half of employees is granted the authority to independently bargain and sign a collective agreement with the employer.
The union said it plans to send a notification to management Friday and begin the process of obtaining official status as the workers’ representative.
Others, however, believe the threshold should be 64,500, considering the total number of Samsung Electronics employees, including contract workers, stood at 129,524 as of June 2025.
There have been multiple labor unions at Samsung Electronics since the first one was launched in 2018, but none has previously secured majority status.
(Yonhap)
