SEOUL, May 27 (Xinhua) -- A tentative wage agreement between Samsung Electronics and its labor unions was approved in a union vote, paving the way for a temporary settlement of a labor dispute at South Korea's largest company.

File photo: AFP

The joint bargaining group of Samsung Electronics unions said Wednesday that 73.7 percent, or 46,142 unionized workers, voted in favor of the agreement in a six-day ballot that ended at 10:00 a.m. local time Wednesday.

Of 65,593 eligible union members, 62,616 cast ballots, posting a turnout of 95.5 percent. Under union rules, the deal was finalized as more than half of eligible voters took part and a majority voted in favor.

Under the tentative agreement reached last Wednesday, Samsung Electronics management and labor agreed to introduce a special bonus pool for the device solutions (DS) semiconductor division funded by 10.5 percent of business performance, raise average wages by 6.2 percent and establish a housing loan program.

Of the pool, 40 percent would be distributed as a division-wide bonus, while the remaining 60 percent would be allocated based on the performance of individual business units.