Seoul: A minority labor union at Samsung Electronics Co., representing consumer electronics employees, will continue its legal challenge against a recently reached wage agreement, according to the union's lawyer. This decision comes despite the approval of the agreement by the company's two largest unions earlier this week, which together represent more than 65,000 members.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the approved agreement includes a substantial bonus package specifically for employees in the semiconductor division, which has been benefiting from booming earnings related to artificial intelligence-related business. The smaller union, with approximately 13,000 members primarily from Samsung's smartphone, TV, and home appliance divisions, had initially filed for an injunction to halt the vote on the wage deal. However, following the conclusion of the vote, the minority union announced its intention to seek a court order to prevent the implementation of the agreement, with plans to file revised injunction documents next week.

The legal proceedings are expected to yield a ruling within a month. The contested agreement stipulates that Samsung will offer a special semiconductor performance bonus equal to 10.5 percent of business performance earnings, with no cap. These bonuses are to be distributed in company stock over a period of at least 10 years, contingent upon the chip division meeting annual operating profit targets of over 200 trillion won (US$132 billion) from 2026 to 2028, and 100 trillion won from 2029 to 2035.

Forecasts suggest that Samsung's annual operating profit could reach 300 trillion won, potentially leading to bonus payouts of up to 600 million won for each of the 28,000 employees in the semiconductor division. In contrast, workers in the smartphone and consumer electronics divisions are expected to receive company stock valued at approximately 6 million won.