KB News Desk
Some 3,800 employees rally behind companywide union to defend profit-sharing deal
SK hynix employees are forming a companywide union spanning production and office workers, escalating a dispute over the chipmaker’s attempt to revise a profit-sharing agreement struck with labor representatives last year.
About 3,800 employees have joined an online organizing group since it opened Aug. 5, according to industry sources Monday. The figure is equivalent to 11 percent of SK hynix’s 34,466 employees as of the end of last year. Organizers filed an application to establish the union Saturday.
SK hynix currently has three unions divided by job type and workplace. Its technical and office workers’ union is affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, while separate production workers’ unions at its Icheon and Cheongju plants belong to the Federation of Korean Trade Unions.
The new group seeks to unite those workers under one organization and strengthen their bargaining power.
At the heart of the dispute is the company’s profit-sharing bonus.
Management and labor agreed last year to allocate 10 percent of annual operating profit to employee bonuses for 10 years. Under the deal, 80 percent is paid in the year the profit is earned and the remainder over the following two years.
Management proposed changing the scheme during this year’s wage negotiations, including paying part of the bonus in company shares that are subject to selling restrictions.
Employees argue that stock-based compensation would expose their bonuses to share-price fluctuations and that reopening the agreement less than a year after it was reached would undermine trust.
“The unified union’s top priority is the full implementation of the bonus agreement reached last year,” the interim union chief said in a notice.
The organizing effort has also gained momentum amid criticism that the existing unions have failed to adequately represent employees. Five rounds of formal wage negotiations have produced little progress.
Government scrutiny of profit-linked bonuses has further fueled uncertainty. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said last week that he opposed bonus systems directly tied to operating profit, while the Labor Ministry is expected to issue guidelines this month clarifying the scope of collective bargaining.
SK hynix employees are also closely watching labor negotiations at Samsung Electronics. Samsung’s largest union has grown to more than 76,000 members and secured measures including a new special performance bonus for semiconductor workers.
“The new union would still need to secure representative bargaining status through a consolidation process,” an industry official said. “It remains unclear whether it could participate in the current wage negotiations or would have to wait until next year.”
SK hynix said it had not officially confirmed the new union’s establishment and would follow the relevant laws and procedures if it is formed.
