Samsung Electronics union runs Times Square ad opposing AI-driven job cuts

A Samsung Electronics labor union — comprising workers in the smartphones and appliances divisions — placed a 15-second advertisement on a Times Square billboard to oppose work force reductions stemming from the company’s push for AI.

The ad, which began showing at midnight on Sept. 5, plays once every hour at the 35-minute mark.

The billboard displays messages such as “Great products begin with people” and “We are still here” in both English and Korean.

The Samsung Electronics union in question primarily represents workers in the Device eXperience (DX) department, the company’s nonsemiconductor consumer electronics and smartphones division.

The union argues that in its push for AI, Samsung has reduced job functions and measured employees’ efficiency to calculate the necessary work force size.

The union also claims that DX division employees were sidelined in the recent wage negotiation agreement between Samsung Electronics and its labor unions, and that the compensation gap between the DX and the Device Solutions (DS) divisions, the latter of which oversees the semiconductor business, has grown excessive.

Following robust chip sales, the DS division distributed bonuses worth roughly 600 million won ($445,900) to each worker. The DX division, on the other hand, has given each of its employees around 6 million won. 

Samsung Electronics’ DX division posted an operating loss of 800 billion won in the second quarter — its first quarterly loss in history — due to soaring memory prices.

The union plans to hold rallies and solo protests near Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s residence in Yongsan District, central Seoul, starting on Sept. 18. 

BY SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]