A tentative labor agreement that SK hynix (000660.KS) and its union reached after about two months of negotiations has been voted down, after a majority of members rejected it.
The agreement failed to win support from the production workers' union, the company's largest, over a plan to pay 60% of performance bonuses in company shares. The bonuses were funded from 10% of operating profit. The rejection leaves the wage and collective bargaining talks unresolved once again.
According to industry sources, SK hynix's union said that 50.08% of members, or 7,535 people, voted against the tentative agreement in an electronic ballot that ran until 9 a.m. on the 25th, defeating the deal.
Of the union's 16,083 total members, 15,045 cast ballots, for a turnout of 93.81%. Votes in favor accounted for 49.92%, or 7,510 members.
Turnout met the requirement of a majority of registered members, but the agreement failed because the "no" votes exceeded half of the ballots cast.
The vote ran from 6 a.m. the previous day until 9 a.m. on the 25th, asking members for their views on the tentative deal covering the 2026 wage increase and collective bargaining terms.
With the tentative agreement rejected, SK hynix and the union are expected to return to the negotiating table. Further talks are likely to focus in particular on the method of paying performance bonuses, which had been cited as the central point of contention.
The SK hynix union also rejected tentative agreements in member votes in 2023 and 2024, after which it held renewed negotiations with management.
SK hynix and the union had reached the tentative agreement on the 20th, including a 6.3% wage increase and a method for paying profit sharing (PS).
The agreement called for paying 40% of the PS pool in cash and the remaining 60% in the form of company shares.
Of the shares to be paid out, 40% could be sold in the year they are granted, while the remaining 20% would be paid out in installments of 10% a year over two years.
For the 2026 PS payout only, however, members could choose to receive the portion of shares eligible for same-year disposal as cash early next year. Under this arrangement, members could receive up to 80% of next year's scheduled payout in cash.
Separately, the clerical-technical union is also holding its own vote on the tentative agreement, according to sources.
