SK hynix launches unified union, eyes majority status

SK hynix has officially launched a new unified labor union — the Hynix Integrated Labor Union — bringing together production workers and technical office staff under a single organization. The union's top priority is securing majority status by enrolling roughly 18,000 members, representing more than half of the company's total workforce, while pledging to defend cash payment of performance bonuses and push for greater transparency in collective bargaining.

Authorities granted the union its official establishment approval Thursday afternoon, industry sources said. Membership currently stands at around 2,400 — already surpassing the enrollment of the existing technical office staff union.

SK hynix is currently conducting separate wage and collective bargaining negotiations this year with three existing unions representing production workers at its Icheon and Cheongju plants and technical office staff.

Discontent with the existing unions has grown among SK hynix employees amid recent government moves to revise the operating-profit-linked bonus system and internal discussions over restructuring the company's performance pay framework. That frustration fueled calls for a new union capable of uniting workers across job categories and locations.

In response, the union's founding preparatory committee filed an establishment application Saturday and began recruiting members. The Hynix Integrated Labor Union is fully independent, with no affiliation to umbrella bodies such as the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) or the Federation of Korean Trade Unions. It aims to enroll about 18,000 of SK hynix's roughly 35,000 employees to achieve majority union status.

Meanwhile, the three existing unions have held six rounds of main bargaining sessions with management and jointly issued a statement Thursday urging the company to reach a swift decision. Management is reported to have proposed during this year's negotiations that a portion of performance bonuses be paid in shares subject to a lock-up period restricting sales for a set time.

The union's task force had earlier stated that any attempt to convert the performance bonus — agreed upon as a long-term cash arrangement — into stock payments would constitute a change to employment rules unfavorable to workers, and that if collective consent under the Labor Standards Act were required, the union would block any such change through lawful procedures.