![\"Union](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/rcv.YNA.20260423.PYH2026042317520006100_P1.jpg\"\/ "\\"SK")
Union members chant slogans at the “Change Transparently, Realize the Abolition of the Cap \u2014 April 23 Struggle Rally,” held by the Samsung Electronics Union Joint Struggle Headquarters in front of Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek Campus in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on April 23. Yonhap News<\/p>\n
SK hynix (000660.KS) is on the verge of launching a unified labor union that would bring together production-line and technical-office employees, with demands centered on preserving the cash payment of performance bonuses and securing transparency in negotiations. The move has drawn attention across corporate Korea, as the union is seeking to join forces with Samsung Electronics’ (005930.KS) cross-company union over how performance bonuses are paid \u2014 a contentious issue across the industry.<\/p>\n
The number of workers who have joined the unified union surpassed 1,250 on the 12th, according to industry sources. A committee preparing the union’s establishment filed an application with the relevant authorities on the 8th. The union is set to formally launch as early as the 12th, once it receives its certificate of registration.<\/p>\n
SK hynix currently operates under a multiple-union system, in which three unions \u2014 covering full-time production workers at its Icheon and Cheongju sites and technical-office staff \u2014 negotiate separately with management. The unified union pushed for consolidation on the view that scattered bargaining channels weaken workers’ leverage against the company. It plans to secure more than half of the roughly 35,000 total workers as members, which would grant it the authority to act as the sole bargaining unit. Until a permanent chair and executive leadership are in place, it will operate as a temporary “unification establishment task force.” The union aims to be a company-based union unaffiliated with any umbrella labor organization. The Korean Metal Workers’ Union also confirmed that the SK hynix union does not belong to any umbrella group.<\/p>\n
The union’s main point of contention is how the profit-sharing bonus, or PS, is paid. It opposes attempts to replace the PS agreed upon by labor and management with stock or other instruments. The task force said, “An attempt to convert the PS into stock amounts to a change in employment rules that is disadvantageous to workers.” It added, “Because this is a matter requiring collective consent from workers under the Labor Standards Act, we will defend the principle of cash payment through lawful procedures.”<\/p>\n
To strengthen its bargaining power, the union has joined hands with the union at rival Samsung Electronics. The unified union was confirmed to have directly sought advice from Samsung Electronics’ cross-company union, which has waged a campaign since early this year demanding transparent calculation of performance bonuses, such as setting them at a fixed percentage of operating profit.<\/p>\n
Choi Seung-ho, chair of Samsung Electronics’ cross-company union, said, “Last week I received a call from the interim chair of the SK hynix unified union.” Choi added, “Discontent is building among employees over SK hynix management’s attempt to unilaterally change the terms of a labor-management agreement that has held for the past decade.”<\/p>\n
Choi continued, “Last year there was a precedent in which the Samsung cross-company union received help from the SK hynix Cheongju union.” He said, “We plan to actively consider issuing a joint statement with the SK hynix side on the major issues that semiconductor industry workers are commonly facing, such as the restructuring of bonus systems.”<\/p>\n
Still, it will be difficult for the unified union to intervene immediately in this year’s wage and collective bargaining. SK hynix held a sixth round of negotiations with its three existing unions from the 10th into the early hours of the 11th. If direct participation is restricted, the unified union intends to engage in the talks by observing negotiations, demanding disclosure of the proceedings and conveying members’ views.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Union members chant slogans at the “Change Transparently, Realize the Abolition of the Cap \u2014 April 23 Struggle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[801,18156,3532,127,276,223,3562,275,60103],"class_list":["post-116696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-samsung","tag-collective-bargaining","tag-cross-company-union","tag-performance-bonus","tag-samsung","tag-samsung-electronics","tag-samsung-group","tag-semiconductor-industry","tag-sk-hynix","tag-unified-labor-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}