SK Hynix Workers Reject Wage Deal by 25 Votes

Workers at SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, narrowly rejected a tentative wage agreement on Tuesday, sending the company’s shares lower and sending management and the union back to the negotiating table. The vote, which followed two months of negotiations, was decided by a margin of just 25 ballots.

According to official results, 7,535 union members, or 50.08% of those who voted, opposed the deal, while 7,510 supported it. Turnout was high, with 15,045 of the union’s 16,083 members casting ballots. The agreement had proposed a 6.3% salary increase and a significant restructuring of the company’s performance bonus system. Under the proposal, 40% of the bonus would be paid in cash, with the remaining 60% distributed in company shares. This marked a major shift from the existing framework, where 80% of the bonus is paid in cash and only 20% is deferred in stock over two years.

The proposed change to a stock-heavy bonus became the central point of contention. Workers expressed concerns that their compensation would become more exposed to fluctuations in SK Hynix’s share price. The company’s stock had reached a record high in June, driven by investor optimism...