SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics' union representing workers in its consumer electronics and mobile businesses took its months-long compensation dispute to Chairman Lee Jae-yong's doorstep Friday, calling for direct talks while signaling room for compromise over its demand for 1,000 company shares per employee.
The Donghaeng union, whose membership is concentrated in Samsung's Device eXperience (DX) division, launched a sit-in near Lee's residence in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, after earlier rallies in Suwon and near Samsung's headquarters in Seocho, southern Seoul.
About 40 union members attended Friday's rally, a considerably smaller turnout than at its previous demonstrations.
The move to Hannam-dong appeared to carry more symbolic weight than an emphasis on turnout. The residential area offered far less room for demonstrators than the sites of the union's previous rallies in Suwon and Seocho.
Lee was believed to be away from the residence at the time, according to a person familiar with the matter. His presence, however, was not central to the protest, which was largely symbolic in bringing the union's months-long campaign directly to the chairman's doorstep.
"We came all the way here because our voices are no longer being heard inside the company," Lee Yong-hoon, the union's welfare director, said at a press conference following the rally.
The union said it had already tried to make its case through a July rally in Suwon, an August demonstration in Seocho and an advertisement in New York's Times Square, but had yet to receive what it considered a meaningful response from management.
Its demands Friday centered on three issues: establishing a direct dialogue channel between Lee and employees, creating a framework that allows DX workers to participate in joint wage bargaining and ending what the union called an "intentionally created loss-making narrative" surrounding DX.
"Please create a dialogue table where the chairman and workers on the ground can speak directly," Lee said. "We will remain here until we get an answer."
Protest moves into Lee's neighborhood
Friday's demonstration was markedly different in atmosphere from Donghaeng's previous rallies.
Because it was held in a residential neighborhood immediately around Lee's home, organizers instructed participants to keep noise below 60 decibels.
"This is a residential area, so we have to keep our voices below 60 decibels," Park Hyuk-jun, Donghaeng's public relations director, told participants before speaking.
Park then repeatedly called out, "Chairman Lee Kun-hee, we miss you," with union members echoing the phrase, as he criticized what the union sees as continued silence from Samsung's current management.
"We have cried out together in Suwon and Seocho, and today we have met here in Hannam," Park said. "Management is still silent."
Other speakers directed their remarks explicitly at Lee Jae-yong.
One union member asked why employees had been forced to come to a private residence rather than a company office.
"This isn't the company gate or headquarters," he said. "Why did we have to come all the way here? Because the door to dialogue has been closed."
The union said it plans to maintain the protest site until a meaningful and sustained dialogue channel is established with Lee or senior management.
"If a dialogue table is established and we can continue communicating, we believe that could mark the point at which we end the sit-in," Lee Yong-hoon said.
The protest also comes during Donghaeng's leadership election period, adding uncertainty over how long the action will continue under the next executive team.
The current leadership plans to maintain a presence at the Hannam-dong site at least through the end of September, according to a union official, who said members would rotate while some officials would remain at the site for extended periods.
The official noted that the current leadership's term ends at the end of September, with the next leadership taking office Oct. 1.
Candidates in the union election also attended Friday's demonstration, and Lee Yong-hoon said their participation suggested the action could continue under the next leadership.
"Whoever becomes chairman, we will deliver the same message to the company," he said.
1,000-share demand open to negotiation
The protest marks the latest escalation of a dispute that intensified after Samsung reached a wage agreement in May that introduced an additional performance-based compensation scheme for its Device Solutions (DS) division, which houses its semiconductor operations.
DX workers have argued that the arrangement widened the compensation gap within Samsung Electronics despite decades of earnings from the company's smartphones, televisions and home appliances having helped finance investments across the company, including in semiconductors.
Donghaeng has previously demanded that each employee receive 1,000 Samsung Electronics shares as compensation for what it sees as DX's historical contribution to the company's growth.
On Friday, however, the union clarified that the figure should not be viewed as a fixed negotiating threshold.
Lee said the union had arrived at the 1,000-share figure by attempting to estimate the value of past excess profits generated by DX that it believes were subsequently invested in DS.
"The 1,000 shares themselves are not what's important," he said. "If the company presents a reasonable calculation and explains to us in a way we can accept that our contribution amounts to this much, we are willing to accept that."
The remarks suggest room for negotiations over the size and form of compensation if Samsung management agrees to recognize DX's historical contribution and establish a formula the union considers credible.
Donghaeng seeks joint bargaining despite union split
The union also renewed its demand for joint bargaining between Samsung's DX and DS workforces despite an increasingly visible split between their respective unions.
Samsung Group's Super Enterprise Union's Samsung Electronics branch, the company's largest union and one dominated by DS workers, has said it plans to negotiate separately from DX beginning with the 2027 wage talks.
Donghaeng rejected the idea that the two sides are headed for a complete break.
"Our goal is One Samsung — to negotiate with the company with one voice," Lee said. "We are not seeking conflict or mutual criticism with the Super Enterprise Union."
The union also disputed criticism that it voluntarily abandoned this year's joint bargaining group.
Lee acknowledged that Donghaeng left the group but said the decision came after repeated clashes with Super Enterprise Union Chairman Choi Seung-ho, who, according to Donghaeng, repeatedly dismissed DX's demands and told the union to leave if it continued raising them.
"We did leave, but it was not a choice we made voluntarily," Lee said.
He said Donghaeng would continue seeking a joint bargaining framework ahead of the next round of wage negotiations.
Union challenges Samsung's accounting of DX performance
Another flashpoint is how Samsung calculates the performance of individual business divisions.
Donghaeng alleged Friday that Samsung's management accounting gives management discretion over how profits and costs are allocated among businesses, arguing that DX has consequently been portrayed as a drag on profitability and denied adequate compensation.
The union described this as an "intentionally created loss-making narrative."
The Hannam-dong sit-in is set to continue as Donghaeng prepares for its next leadership and Samsung's unions position themselves for the next round of wage bargaining.
For Donghaeng, however, Friday's move from Samsung workplaces and corporate offices to the chairman's residential neighborhood was intended to carry a simple message: it wants management to come to the table.
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