Kakao has put out the immediate fire of what would have been the first headquarters strike since its founding, but labor-management conflict over the pay and performance compensation system is spreading to affiliates. At headquarters, labor and management agreed to extend the Labor Relations Commission's mediation deadline once more, and some affiliates have already met the requirements to begin industrial action procedures.
According to the IT industry on the 19th, Kakao labor and management failed to reach a conclusion in mediation at the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission the previous day and agreed to extend the date. The mediation, which began late in the afternoon, continued into the night, but they reportedly failed to narrow differences over the wage increase rate and how to distribute bonuses. The next mediation date is set for the 27th.
The core of the dispute lies more in the performance compensation structure than in the simple magnitude of the wage increase. The Kakao union says the criteria for calculating bonuses should be disclosed more transparently and that a compensation system linked to the company's performance should be established. In the industry, the protracted talks are being attributed to accumulated internal discontent that, despite Kakao's solid results last year, bonus payout rates fell short of expectations.
Headquarters has bought time, but it is hard to say tensions have eased across the community as a whole. Kakao Enterprise and Kakao Pay previously secured the right to strike after mediation was suspended, and DK Techin and XLGAMES also failed to find common ground in the mediation process. After mediation is suspended, collective action such as strikes or work-to-rule becomes possible following a vote by union members.
The union plans to hold a rally near Pangyo Station on the 20th and unveil joint demands. If the next headquarters mediation also collapses, Kakao's labor dispute could again shift toward talks on the first headquarters strike. Kakao says that, as the mediation period was extended by labor-management agreement, it intends to continue talks.