Heading Toward a Strike After All... Kakao Union Says Partial Strike and Pangyo Rally on the 10th

Labor-management tensions at Kakao have now entered a strike phase. As the Kakao labor union has announced a partial strike on the 10th, the possibility of the first full-scale strike at headquarters since the company’s founding is also becoming a reality. The union plans to begin with a four-hour partial strike and then escalate the action depending on the progress of negotiations.
The Kakao branch of the National Chemical, Textile, and Food Industry Labor Union, known as Crew Union, said on the 1st that it plans to stage a four-hour partial strike and hold a rally in Pangyo, Seongnam, on the 10th.
The union says the key issue behind the strike is job security. It argues that employees are growing increasingly anxious as Kakao affiliates are sold off, reorganized, and subjected to restructuring within the Kakao ecosystem, and it is demanding that the company come up with countermeasures.
In a statement released that day, the union said, "The Kakao branch’s core demand is to stop sales, spin-offs, and restructuring caused by repeated management failures, and to secure job stability." It added, "The compensation system, which is centered on management and concentrates overwhelming rewards despite causing job insecurity through poor decision-making, must also be improved."
The dispute intensified after this year’s wage and collective bargaining talks stalled. Kakao and the union reportedly clashed over the size of performance bonuses and whether RSUs should be counted as part of those bonuses, but they failed to narrow their differences. Industry sources estimate that the bonus level demanded by the union would amount to about 13% to 15% of Kakao’s operating profit on a separate basis last year.
Still, the union appears to have chosen a partial strike rather than an immediate full walkout, likely taking into account concerns from users of major services such as KakaoTalk.
The union said, "We understand that there are growing concerns about possible disruptions or problems with services closely tied to daily life, including KakaoTalk." It added, "Rather than launching an immediate full strike, we will carry out a four-hour partial strike and strengthen the action depending on the progress of negotiations."
The union has already secured the legal right to strike. Unless the two sides reach a dramatic agreement by the 10th, the partial strike is expected to proceed as planned. If the gap over key issues remains unresolved after that, the strike could escalate into a full walkout. Industry watchers say the short-term risk of service disruptions is limited, given the nature of an IT platform company. However, if the labor dispute drags on, it could also weigh on major management issues such as AI business upgrades, organizational restructuring, and affiliate operations. Kakao CEO Shina Chung said on the 28th of last month, shortly after the second mediation failed, "We are truly sorry that we have not been able to quickly resolve the many concerns and uncertainties." She added, "We take seriously the fact that the negotiations are dragging on and that the crew’s wait is growing longer."
yjjoe@fnnews.com Jo Yoon-ju Reporter