Samsung Electronics Union Urges Withdrawal of Proposal to Pay Bonuses in Local Currency Vouchers

The Samsung Group Super-Enterprise Labor Union's Samsung Electronics branch, the largest labor union at Samsung Electronics, has called for the withdrawal of a proposed amendment to the Labor Standards Act that would allow a portion of wages to be paid in local currency vouchers, arguing that it "undermines the principle of wage payment in legal tender."

In a statement released today (July 10), the union stated, "The proposed amendment to the Labor Standards Act, which would allow a portion of wages, such as performance bonuses, to be paid in local currency vouchers with the explicit consent of the employee, is a dangerous attempt that shakes the foundation of wage payment," and added, "It must be withdrawn immediately."

Previously, Representative Park Min-kyu of the Democratic Party of Korea proposed the amendment on July 8, which would allow a portion of wages to be paid in forms other than legal tender, such as local currency vouchers, provided there is explicit consent from the employee or a collective bargaining agreement.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) also demanded the withdrawal of the bill yesterday.

The union further remarked, "If they are so confident that local currency vouchers are no different from legal tender, we suggest that they apply this experimental attempt not to the wages of workers, but to the salaries and activity allowances of the lawmakers who signed the bill."

In the semiconductor industry, concerns are also being raised about a decline in corporate competitiveness, coinciding with recent controversies over policies to claw back excess profits from the semiconductor sector.

Among employees at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, there is a growing movement to encourage participation in a national petition to the National Assembly, calling for the "suspension of the review of semiconductor excess profit clawback policies and the withdrawal of policies that undermine corporate competitiveness."

The securities industry projects that Samsung Electronics' DS (Device Solutions) division and SK Hynix will each record operating profits of around 400 trillion won and 300 trillion won this year, respectively.

Consequently, the industry expects that the performance bonuses to be paid to employees of Samsung Electronics' memory business and SK Hynix early next year will reach an average of several hundred million won per person.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.