Webzen Union, First Strike in Gaming Industry Put on Hold, Reaches Tentative Agreement with Management

Webzen union chairman Noh Young-ho, who led the first strike resolution in the gaming industry, is shouting slogans with attendees during a "Press Conference Urging CEO Kim Tae-young to Engage in Dialogue and Announcing Dispute Actions" in front of Webzen headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on the morning of April 18. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Webzen, the first in the gaming industry to have its labor union decide on a strike, has reached a tentative agreement between labor and management after two weeks of intensive negotiations.

According to the gaming industry on the 29th, Webzen's labor and management held a total of four intensive negotiation meetings and presented a tentative agreement related to wages and working conditions.

Accordingly, the union plans to hold a member meeting this weekend and conduct a vote on the approval or disapproval of the labor-management agreement. The specific details of the agreement are expected to be disclosed next week.

Since the end of last year, the Webzen labor union has been negotiating wages with the company, demanding a salary increase commensurate with the company's improved performance.

In the first wage negotiation in January, the union demanded a "uniform increase of 10 million KRW," while the management proposed an "average 10% increase" (approximately 4.8 million to 5 million KRW), failing to narrow the gap. After mediation by the Regional Labor Relations Commission, the union proposed a compromise of an "average 16% increase" plus a "one-time payment of 2 million KRW," but negotiations broke down as management insisted on its original offer with an additional 2 million KRW for employees rated B or higher.

The union argued that although the average salary of employees increased, the wage increase level for regular employees was low compared to executives.

After the wage negotiations broke down in March, the Webzen labor union decided to go on strike starting from the 2nd of this month following a vote, but postponed the strike when a proposal was made in the National Assembly to hold a meeting involving both labor and management.

Subsequently, labor and management at Webzen agreed to hold additional negotiations for two weeks after jointly participating in a meeting hosted by the Democratic Party's Euljiro Committee at the National Assembly on the 12th, which led to the current tentative agreement.

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