A tentative 2026 wage and collective agreement reached by SK Hynix labor and management after two months of talks was rejected in a union vote.

According to the industry on Aug. 25, the SK Hynix union for regular employees said the agenda was voted down in an electronic ballot that closed at 9 a.m. Votes against were 50.08 percent (7,535 people) and votes in favor were 49.92 percent (7,510 people), it said.

The margin was 25 votes. Turnout was 93.81 percent, with 15,045 of 16,083 members taking part. A majority of all members voted, but the tentative deal was rejected after a majority of voters opposed it.

SK Hynix labor and management held an emergency temporary delegates' meeting on the afternoon of Aug. 20 and drew up a tentative deal centered on a 6.3 percent wage increase and a change to how the performance bonus, the profit-sharing bonus (PS), is paid. The union also held a briefing for members on the wage and collective agreement at 2 p.m. the same day. The union then conducted a 27-hour electronic ballot from 6 a.m. on Aug. 24 to 9 a.m. on Aug. 25 after a delegates' convention, and the result was confirmed as rejected on the morning of Aug. 25.

The two sides will now return to the negotiating table. Coordination is expected to focus on the performance bonus payment method, cited as the key reason for the rejection.

The earlier tentative deal included paying 40 percent of PS in cash and 60 percent in company shares. Of the portion paid in shares, 40 percent could be sold in the year in question and 20 percent would be deferred and paid out over two years, 10 percent each year. The deal also set out that for the 2026 PS paid early next year only, members could choose to receive even the sellable portion in cash, allowing next year's payment to be received in cash up to a maximum of 80 percent.