SK hynix labor and management are failing to narrow differences over paying performance bonuses in company stock and a plan to adjust wages when losses occur. The labor union is pushing back, saying the company's proposal undermines the purpose of the performance bonus system agreed to last year and shifts management risk onto employees.
According to the industry on the 31st, SK hynix labor and management held the "fourth main negotiations for the 2026 wage and collective agreement" the previous day at the research and development (R&D) center in Icheon, Gyeonggi. The two sides had four intensive working-level talks over the past two weeks but failed to agree on key issues.
SK hynix is said to have maintained a proposal to pay an amount well above half of the profit sharing (PS) in stock and restrict sales for a certain period. It also reportedly presented a plan to allow temporary wage adjustments if losses occur.
The union's position is that this stock payment plan effectively changes the labor-management agreement concluded last year. It is opposing the plan, saying employees would bear the risk from share price fluctuations and the sale restriction would delay when performance bonuses can be converted to cash.
Last year, SK hynix labor and management set the PS fund at 10% of operating profit and scrapped the payment cap that had been 1,000% of base salary. They agreed to maintain for 10 years the standard under which 80% of the calculated PS is paid in cash in the relevant year and the remaining 20% is paid over the following two years.
The union is also opposing the plan to adjust wages due to losses. It says a structure that reduces the cash portion of performance bonuses when results are good and then adjusts wages when results worsen is unacceptable.
The union warned it will take actions outside the talks if the company does not present a forward-looking revision in the next negotiations. The fifth main negotiations are scheduled for Aug. 4 at the SK hynix Cheongju campus.