Two Kakao Affiliates Fail to Reach Agreement in Labor Mediation... 'Strike Vote' Scheduled for the 20th

Kakao Enterprise and Kakao Pay Secure the Right to Strike

Union: "Management Unilaterally Implemented Performance-Based Bonuses"

Kakao Pangyo Ajit in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Two Kakao affiliates failed to reach an agreement as they remained at an impasse during the mediation process with the Regional Labor Relations Commission.

According to the ICT industry on May 18, two companies, DK Techin and XL Games, underwent mediation at the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission that day but failed to reach an agreement, resulting in the breakdown of mediation. Kakao headquarters began its mediation process at 4:30 p.m. on the same day.

The suspension of mediation is a procedure in which the mediation process is terminated when the gap between labor and management is deemed too wide to reach an agreement. As a result, the union secures the right to take industrial action, such as going on strike, through a vote of its members.

Previously, the Kakao branch of the Korean Chemical & Food Workers' Union (Kakao Union) applied for mediation to the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission on May 7 after wage negotiations broke down at five companies: Kakao, Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin, and XL Games. Kakao Enterprise and Kakao Pay failed to reach an agreement and have already secured the right to strike.

Industry sources have reported that the union is currently demanding performance-based bonuses amounting to 13-14% of operating profit. However, on May 11, the union issued a statement clarifying that the proposal to give 10% of operating profit as a bonus was merely one of several options suggested by the company and reviewed, not a formal demand from the union.

The union claims that the breakdown in negotiations was not only due to the performance-based bonus structure but also excessive working hours, unilateral implementation of performance bonuses, and repeated changes in bargaining representatives. The union is expected to hold a vote on whether to go on strike during the Kakao Union Resolution Rally scheduled for May 20 at Pangyo Station Square in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

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