A Samsung Electronics union representing consumer electronics workers has asked a South Korean court to block a vote on a pay deal that primarily benefits colleagues in the chip divisions.
The government-mediated agreement, reached last week, averted an 18-day strike by 48,000 workers. It provides huge bonuses for workers in Samsung's memory chip division, which has seen profits soar amid the AI boom.
Voting began on Friday and is due to conclude on Wednesday morning. The Samsung Electronics Co Union (SECU), with about 13,000 members mostly from smartphone, TV and home appliance divisions, said it took legal action after being told it had no right to join the vote.
Disagreements caused SECU to leave the negotiating team before the agreement was reached.
Debate over sharing AI riches continues. The Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU) said more than 90% of its 57,290 eligible members had cast their ballots. Approval requires a simple majority of eligible members to vote in favor and a majority to participate.
A separate union, the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), will vote against the deal, Yonhap reported. NSEU represents both chip and non-chip workers.
Samsung accounts for about a quarter of the country's exports. The dispute has exposed deep divisions over how the spoils of the AI boom should be shared.
