Samsung Electronics Sees First-Ever Single Majority Union with 63,000 Members

For the first time since its founding, Samsung Electronics now has a single majority labor union.

According to the Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU) on January 29, the number of union members surpassed 62,600 that afternoon, exceeding the majority threshold of 62,500 claimed by the union. A single majority union is defined as a union whose membership exceeds half of the company's total employees, thereby gaining the exclusive right to negotiate with management.

The homepage of the Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU) on the 29th.

As of 1 p.m. that day, the number of union members recorded on the SELU homepage had increased to 63,000.

The SELU plans to send an official letter to management the following morning to initiate the formal process for securing majority union status. The union also intends to notify the Ministry of Employment and Labor to begin the procedure for obtaining 'representative status for workers.'

The labor union at Samsung Electronics was established in 2018. Until now, the company had maintained a multi-union system without a single majority union. However, in 2024, four unions representing employees from Samsung Electronics, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Display, and Samsung Biologics merged to form the SELU, rapidly expanding its influence. As of the end of last year, SELU had 50,853 members, but in less than a month, the number surged by nearly 12,000.

The SELU estimates the threshold for majority status to be 62,500 members. However, some analyses suggest that, since Samsung Electronics had a total of 129,524 employees (including 599 temporary workers) as of the end of June last year, more than 64,500 union members may be required to officially achieve majority status.