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A tentative wage and collective bargaining agreement between SK Hynix and its labor union has been voted down by a razor-thin margin of just 25 votes. Dissatisfaction erupted over a provision to pay part of the performance bonuses—estimated to average about 700 million won per person—in company shares.

Reporter Kwon Ran has the details.

[Reporter]

The tentative wage and collective bargaining agreement negotiated by SK Hynix management and labor failed to clear the union member vote.

More than 90 percent of union members, numbering around 15,000, participated in the production workers' union ratification vote held from yesterday (the 24th), resulting in 7,510 votes in favor and 7,535 against.

It was rejected by a mere 25-vote margin.

What split the voters was the method of bonus payment.

Following two months of negotiations, SK Hynix management and labor reached a tentative agreement on the 20th to raise wages by 6.3 percent while paying 60 percent of performance bonuses in stock and 40 percent in cash.

However, internal discontent appears to have run high, as the deal was seen as overturning—just a year later—last year's agreement to maintain a bonus system that pays 10 percent of operating profit in cash annually.

This stemmed from concerns that actual compensation could fall short of cash payouts depending on stock price fluctuations.

While the tentative agreement was approved with a 66 percent approval rate in a vote by the office workers' union representing 900 members, a renegotiation now appears inevitable.

Because the agreement is subject to change, if either side rejects it, management and labor must return to the negotiating table.

The union is expected to compile the voting results and member opinions before requesting a re-negotiation from management.

Given that approval votes reached 49 percent, rather than scrapping the entire existing agreement from scratch, discussions are likely to focus heavily on the most controversial bonus payment method.

[Interview / Park Ji-soon / Professor, Korea University Law School : If a re-vote is held now, there is a high possibility that opposition could exceed 60 or 70 percent. I think a very important task for now is to create a step-by-step proposal considering various scenarios and persuade the employees.]

With a newly launched unified union boasting about 3,400 members also demanding negotiations centered on paying 100 percent of performance bonuses in cash, further turbulence is expected before a new agreement can be reached.

(Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi, Design: Cho Soo-in)