Overview
- Samsung’s group-wide union, which plans a mass rally on Thursday, is demanding bonuses equal to 15% of operating profit and has warned of a May 21–June 7 strike after rejecting management’s 10% offer.
- SK hynix locked in a 10% of operating profit bonus formula with no cap, paid about 140 million won per worker in February, and could distribute roughly 20–25 trillion won this year based on strong earnings forecasts.
- Hyundai Motor’s union seeks 30% of last year’s net profit for bonuses, a pool topping 3 trillion won, and has floated equal payouts to partner-firm employees as part of its proposal.
- Workers inside Samsung and SK hynix are feuding over uniform cash payouts, with engineers and staff in less-profitable units arguing the system over-rewards production roles and divisions lifted by the current memory cycle.
- Business scholars and industry sources warn that large cash pools could drain funds from research and new factories and note that global tech peers more often use stock grants that vest over time to align pay with long-term performance.