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Samsung smaller union seeks court injunction to block wage deal, citing 100-fold pay gap with chip workers
A smaller Samsung union representing non-semiconductor workers is reportedly seeking an injunction with Suwon District Court to halt a vote on the tentative wage agreement. The deal struck last week would give around 400,000 dollars to employees in the booming memory chip division, creating a 100-fold gap with workers elsewhere in the company.
One of Samsung's smaller unions is reportedly seeking to halt a vote on a tentative wage agreement between the company and its largest union. According to Yonhap, the union representing non-semiconductor workers plans to file an injunction with the Suwon District Court to block the deal from proceeding.
The tentative deal struck last week staved off a potentially catastrophic strike at the world's largest memory chip manufacturer. Under the agreement, employees in Samsung's booming memory chip division would receive compensation of approximately 400,000 dollars. However, this creates a staggering 100-fold gap with employees working in other divisions of the company.
The dispute highlights deep internal friction within Samsung as the memory semiconductor business generates unprecedented profits while other divisions lag behind. Samsung and SK Hynix together make up about 40 percent of the KOSPI index, meaning any labor disruption could have significant ripple effects across the South Korean stock market.
Adding to the volatility, South Korea is expected to debut its first ever single-stock leverage ETFs this week, linked specifically to Samsung and SK Hynix shares. The Korean won remains relatively weak against the US dollar, trading at the 1,514 level despite some broader dollar weakness.
Meanwhile, broader market sentiment has improved with US Treasuries rallying across the board as cash trading resumed after the Memorial Day holiday. Ten-year yields dropped around seven basis points as investors grew more optimistic about the geopolitical situation, particularly regarding potential progress in US-Iran negotiations. Brent crude futures slid more than 7 percent on Monday before partially recovering.