The labor union of Samsung Electronics Co. union held a one-hour rally on Wednesday, demanding higher wage increase, stirring controversy as the strike comes amid the vulnerable business environment.

The rally, staged by The Nationwide Samsung Electronics Labor Union, took place in front of Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions (DS) headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

The rally was prompted by a recent breakdown of wage negotiations.

Although Samsung Electronics recorded a deficit of 15 trillion won ($10.9 billion) in the semiconductor division last year, the management proposed an average wage increase of 5.1 percent.

The figure is 1 percentage point higher than the previous year, considering employee morale and other factors.

The proposal also comes amid a challenging business environment with an 85 percent on-year drop in overall operating profit last year.

The union, however, remains adamant about not compromising on their demand for a 6.5 percent wage increase.

The conflict escalates despite the wage increase rates proposed by both sides differing by a mere 1.4 percentage points.

The average annual salary of Samsung Electronics employees was 120 million won last year or 115 million won excluding executives.

The gap between the two sides amounts to about 1.68 million won annually, or 140,000 won per month. In net salary terms, the difference is about 100,000 won per month.

The union secured the right to strike by obtaining 74 percent approval in a vote held on April 8.

The union has about 26,400 members. Assuming that Samsung Electronics has 120,000 employees, the unionization rate is 22 percent.

By Choi Seung-jin and Minu Kim

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