Amid ongoing conflict over the bonus system during a semiconductor boom, a move is emerging at SK hynix to establish a labor union that integrates production workers and technical and office staff. Discontent among some members over the existing unions is overlapping, fueling calls for the launch of a new union.
According to the industry on the 9th, some SK hynix members recently formed a preparatory group to establish an integrated union and are moving to formalize the process. The acting chair said in a notice, "As of today (the 8th), we submitted an application to establish a union," and "the formal union is expected to be established as early as next week." The group, launched on the 5th, reportedly drew more than 3,500 people—about 10% of the total 35,000 employees—within three days.
SK hynix currently has multiple unions. The technical and office workers' union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the production workers' unions at the Icheon and Cheongju plants under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions are each separately negotiating wages and collective bargaining agreements. Internally, there are expectations that, if an integrated union is formed, it could unify dispersed members' demands and further strengthen bargaining power.
Conflict over bonuses lies behind the move to form an integrated union.
Last year, labor and management at SK hynix agreed to abolish the cap on the profit-sharing (PS) payout funded by 10% of operating profit and to maintain this system for 10 years. Eighty percent of the PS amount is paid in cash in the current year, with the remaining 20% deferred over two years.
However, management is said to have proposed in this year's talks to partially change the bonus system by paying a portion in stock and restricting sales for a certain period. Management also reportedly mentioned an agenda to adjust wages if the company posts a loss.
Union members are pushing back against this. They say that if bonuses are paid in stock, the compensation amount could fluctuate with the share price, and they cannot understand why the bonus system agreed to last year has been put back on the bargaining table at all.
The acting chair said, "The top purpose of launching the integrated union is the complete fulfillment of last year's promise to pay bonuses," adding, "We will force a full withdrawal of management's proposed bonus deal, completely separate bonuses from the wage and collective bargaining negotiations, and ensure they are not subject to bargaining for the next 10 years."
With little progress through the fifth main round of talks and labor-management negotiations dragging on, some are also blaming the existing unions. Members say the existing unions are not sufficiently reflecting union members' opinions and are not sharing bargaining details transparently.
The government's push to revamp the system is also adding to members' anxiety. Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said at a Kwanhun Forum on the 6th that he opposes a bonus system linked to operating profit and that related ministries are discussing revisions to the Commercial Act and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) also said it will issue guidelines this month that clarify the subjects and scope of labor-management bargaining on bonuses and the like.
Even if an integrated union is established, the key will be whether it can secure the status of the representative union through steps such as unifying the bargaining channel. An industry official said, "We will have to see whether the new union can participate in the wage and collective bargaining now underway, or whether it will begin bargaining next year."