SK Hynix Establishes Separate Union for Professionals

[Asia Economy Reporter Woo Su-yeon] The SK Hynix Technical and Office Workers' Union has newly established a separate union for professionals (associate degree holders) within the branch.

On the 14th, the SK Hynix Technical and Office Workers' Union announced that it had received approval to establish a 'Professional Division' and conveyed this fact to the company via official letter. The union stated, "We proposed the formation of a task force to improve the treatment of professionals during this year's wage negotiations, but the company did not accept it," adding, "To improve the treatment of the professional group, we decided to establish a separate union division within the branch."

Currently, SK Hynix has a production workers' union under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and a technical and office workers' union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. Among these, a separate union has now been established within the technical and office workers' union for the professional group.

The current membership of the technical and office workers' union is about 1,700, with approximately 50 professionals. They claim to be receiving unfair treatment compared to other job groups. On the other hand, the company responded, "The wage system is determined according to tasks and job groups," and "There is no system that discriminates separately just because one is a professional."

Meanwhile, SK Hynix labor and management have prepared a tentative agreement on wages and collective bargaining, agreeing to an average wage increase of 8.07% this year. On the 11th, the agreement passed the union vote. Accordingly, the starting salary for new technical and office employees at SK Hynix will exceed 50 million KRW, and including various bonuses and productivity incentives, it is expected to reach up to 80 million KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.