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A tentative wage agreement between SK Hynix management and its union regarding performance bonuses has been voted down by a razor-thin margin of just 25 votes. The rejection reflects strong member dissatisfaction with a proposal to pay a portion of the bonuses—estimated to average about 700 million won per person—in company shares.
Reporter Kwon Ran has the details.
[Reporter]
The tentative collective wage and labor agreement between SK Hynix management and the union has failed to clear the approval vote among union members.
More than 90% of unionized production workers, totaling around 15,000 members, participated in the ratification vote. The results were 7,510 votes in favor and 7,535 against.
It was rejected by a mere 25-vote difference.
What ultimately split the vote was the proposed method of bonus payment.
Following two months of negotiations, SK Hynix management and the union reached a tentative agreement on the 20th to raise wages by 6.3% and distribute performance bonuses as 60% stock and 40% cash.
However, internal frustration appears to have run high over perceptions that the deal overturned a previous agreement reached just a year ago, which maintained a system of paying out 10% of operating profit in cash annually for ten years.
This was driven by concerns that actual compensation could fall short of cash equivalents depending on stock price fluctuations.
While a separate vote by the salaried workers' union, representing 900 members, passed the tentative agreement with a 66% approval rate, renegotiation now appears inevitable.
Because terms of the agreement are subject to change, if either side votes it down, management and the union must return to the negotiating table.
The union is expected to compile the voting results and member feedback before formally requesting a re-negotiation with management.
Given that approval votes still reached nearly 49%, discussions are likely to focus heavily on the most contentious payment method rather than scrapping the entire existing agreement from scratch.
[Interview / Park Ji-soon / Professor, Korea University Law School : If a revote were held now, there is a high likelihood that the opposition would rise to 60 or 70%. Considering various scenarios, creating phased proposals to persuade employees seems like a crucial task at this point.]
A newly launched integrated union representing some 3,400 members is also demanding negotiations while calling for performance bonuses to be paid entirely in cash, signaling that further friction lies ahead before a new agreement can be reached.
[Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi, Design: Cho Soo-in]
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