SEOUL, May 22 - Members of Samsung Electronics' South Korean union started an electronic ballot on Friday to decide whether to ratify a tentative pay agreement, the union said in a notice posted online. The voting process - which, according to the union, involves approximately 89,000 members drawn from two Samsung unions based on a Wednesday headcount - began at 2:12 p.m. (0512 GMT) on Friday following a brief delay caused by a server overload.
The union indicated that the electronic vote is scheduled to remain open until 10 a.m. on May 27. The ballot follows a last-minute accord reached on Wednesday between union leaders and management which averted a planned 18-day strike that had posed a risk to global semiconductor supply.
Under the terms of the deal, Samsung will earmark about 10.5% of the chip division's operating profit for special bonuses intended for employees across the memory and logic businesses. The agreement includes provisions for significant individual payouts, with some members set to receive roughly $416,000.
For the pact to be approved, two conditions must be met: a majority of all union members must participate in the vote, and a majority of those casting ballots must support the agreement. If either threshold is not met, the unions and the company would be required to reopen negotiations from the beginning, the union said.
Union leadership has expressed confidence that the membership will ratify the deal, with a union leader saying he expected approval. The voting process and the mechanics of the electronic ballot were delayed briefly when server issues occurred, prompting the union to note the adjusted start time.
The agreement directly ties a material portion of the chip division's operating profit to one-off bonus payments for workers across key semiconductor businesses, and the outcome of the current vote will determine whether those payments move forward as agreed.
Context and next steps
The ballot will conclude on the morning of May 27, after which the union will announce results. If approved, the special bonus framework described in the deal will be implemented; if not, bargaining must restart.