SK hynix workers move to form integrated union, seek majority status

SK Hynix's headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province / Yonhap

Unionized workers at SK hynix Inc. are close to launching an integrated labor union with the goal of securing more than half of the company's employees to become a majority union, industry sources said Wednesday.

A preparatory task force plans to file an application to establish the integrated union and officially launch it as early as Wednesday, the sources said.

The upcoming union has set securing a majority of the company's employees as its key objective, aiming to recruit about 18,000 of SK hynix's roughly 35,000 employees to gain majority-union status.

Three separate labor unions currently negotiate with management independently.

The task force, currently serving as an interim organization for the integrated union, was formed voluntarily by employees and will remain in place until an official union leader and executive committee are elected.

"Bringing together the voices of employees across job categories and regions and creating a majority union is our top priority," the task force said. "We aim to establish a union in which all members have equal voting rights and make decisions directly, rather than one centered on delegates."

The union has also identified performance-based compensation as a key issue.

It is also considering forming an alliance with the largest labor union at Samsung Electronics, SK hynix's chipmaking rival, according to industry sources.