[Edaily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] The tentative agreement on SK hynix’s wage and collective bargaining agreement—which was previously rejected by a margin of just 25 votes—will once again be put to a vote by union members. Management and labor have addressed the reasons for the initial agreement’s rejection—including increasing the proportion of performance bonuses paid in cash and granting employees the option to receive company stock—which were the main points of contention. Given that the initial vote was decided by such a narrow margin, attention is focused on the results of the re-vote scheduled for the 15th and 16th.

According to industry sources on the 13th, SK hynix management and the union recently finalized a revised tentative agreement on the wage and collective bargaining negotiations and will hold a general vote among full-time (production) union members on the 15th and 16th. This comes approximately three weeks after the first tentative agreement was rejected on the 25th of last month.

The core of the revised proposal concerns the method of distributing profit-sharing (PS) payments. The initial tentative agreement stipulated that 40% of the total PS would be paid in cash and the remaining 60% in company stock. Under that structure, 80% of the current-year payment would be split 40% in cash and 40% in stock, while the remaining 20% would be paid in stock—10% after one year and 10% after two years.

In this revised proposal, the proportion of cash payments relative to the total PS has been increased by 10 percentage points, from 40% to 50%. Under this structure, 50% of the current-year payment is distributed in cash and 30% in stock, with the remaining 20% deferred; overall, cash and stock each account for half of the total.

Employees were also given the option to choose how they receive their company stock. If an employee wishes, they can directly select the proportion of the award to be received in company stock, ranging from the default 50% up to a maximum of 100% in 10-percentage-point increments. This means employees who prefer cash payments can secure half of their award in cash, while those who see high potential for future stock price appreciation can increase the proportion of company stock they receive.

The issue of deferred payments under the existing performance-based bonus system has also been addressed. The company decided to bring forward the payment of the 20% deferred portion—which was calculated based on last year’s performance and scheduled to be paid in installments next year and the year after—to an earlier date. This measure is intended to minimize confusion arising from the overlap between the existing deferred portion and the new payments during the transition to the new performance-based bonus system. The company will also bear any additional costs incurred due to a rise in the stock price during the stock distribution process.

Ultimately, this revised proposal is characterized by maintaining the broad framework of the agreement—including the total performance bonus amount—while focusing on refining the payment method, which had sparked significant opposition among union members during the first vote. Rather than expanding the scale of additional compensation, the focus was on increasing the proportion of cash and broadening the options for company stock to enhance employee acceptance.

Previously, the first tentative agreement was rejected in a union member vote on the 25th of last month, with 7,535 votes against (50.08%) and 7,510 votes in favor (49.92%). The margin was a mere 25 votes out of a total of 15,045 voters. A margin of less than 0.2% of the voters determined the outcome of the wage and collective bargaining negotiations.

Given how close the first vote was, members’ preferences regarding the performance bonus payment method are expected to be the biggest variable in this re-vote as well. In particular, the key question is how much the measures—which increase the proportion of cash payments by 10 percentage points and allow employees to opt for treasury stock—will sway those who previously voted against the agreement.