Kakao Union Stages One-Day Walkout; KakaoTalk Services Remain Operational

The Kakao labor union is staging a one-day collective action today, June 29, by utilizing annual leave and time-off requests after failing to reach an agreement with management regarding the performance-based bonus system.

Kakao has activated a real-time response system to ensure the stable operation of key services, including KakaoTalk, to minimize inconvenience to users, while management plans to continue negotiations with the union.

According to the information and communications technology (ICT) industry, the Kakao union is holding a "Logout Day," where members are taking full-day leave or time off and logging out of internal work systems.

This marks the second labor dispute following a four-hour partial strike that took place on June 10.

As with the first action, this collective movement involves five entities: Kakao, Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin, and XL Games.

There are approximately 2,500 union members at Kakao headquarters, and the industry estimates that the total number of participants could reach up to 3,000 when including members from the affiliates.

However, the final number of actual participants will be tallied after the collective action concludes.

The union does not plan to hold any offline rallies or issue separate statements today.

Kakao management and the union have been unable to narrow their differences for about two months since collective bargaining negotiations regarding the performance bonus system broke down in May.

The union is demanding performance bonuses worth 10 million won, which is equivalent to about 13 to 14 percent of operating profit, but management maintains that the demand is difficult to accept as it would place a burden on company management.

The IT industry is closely monitoring the potential impact of this collective action on service operations, as, unlike the first instance, members are halting work for the entire day.

During the first collective action, approximately 1,000 employees from the headquarters and about 1,500 from the five entities participated, but no service disruptions occurred.

However, as the union has signaled an increase in the scale of participation and the action involves a full-day work stoppage, the company is keeping a close watch on the potential impact on responses to emergency situations.

Management stated that it plans to continue negotiations with the union while maintaining a real-time response system to ensure stable service operations and minimize the impact on customers.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.