A handful of unions representing consumer electronics workers at Samsung Electronics will ask a South Korean court to suspend a pay deal that mainly benefits workers in its chip unit, according to a lawyer. Two other unions owned by the world's largest memory chip and TV maker, including its largest, voted this week to approve a pay deal that will provide huge bonuses to workers at Samsung's memory chip unit, which has seen profits soar amid a boom in artificial intelligence.
The Samsung Electronics Union (SECU) has about 13,000 members, mainly from the company's smartphone, TV and home appliance divisions. The union had initially sought an injunction to halt the vote.
The last-minute government-brokered deal averted a planned 18-day strike, but also meant that the situation for some employees outside the chip sector was not optimistic.
"Now that the vote has been passed, the SECU union will ask the court to suspend the implementation of the salary agreement," the union's lawyer said at a court hearing on Friday.
SECU's legal counsel said they would file a revised injunction application next week and expected the court to rule within a month.
A spokesman for Samsung Electronics' largest union declined to comment.
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