Debate is growing in the IT industry over a structure in which a Naver labor union officer is designated as a chief negotiator in Kakao labor talks, and a Kakao labor union officer is designated as a chief negotiator in Naver labor talks. The union side says this is a method of delegating bargaining authority that is possible under an industry-level union system, but some in the industry say that a structure in which a branch leader from a rival company appears on the list of chief negotiators could lead to burdens in managing sensitive management information.
◇ Designating a rival's branch leader as chief negotiator… concerns over managing sensitive information
According to the industry on the 3rd, some branches at IT companies under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Korean Chemical, Textile & Food Workers' Union (KCTFU) have been operating a system in which the branch leader of another company is designated as a chief negotiator during collective bargaining. In Kakao branch negotiations, Oh Se-yoon, KCTFU IT committee chair and Naver branch leader, was designated as the chief negotiator, while in Naver branch negotiations, a system was reportedly applied in which Seo Seung-uk, Kakao branch leader, took on the role of chief negotiator.
The union side views this as a form of bargaining support possible under an industry-level union structure. When an individual branch bargains with the company, the industry-level union delegates bargaining authority, and an experienced officer from another branch supports strategy and operations. The position is that even if another company's branch leader participates as a chief negotiator, they do not unilaterally decide the outcome of the bargaining, and the final agreement is confirmed after procedures such as a vote by the members of the relevant branch.
Some in the industry are less concerned with the list of chief negotiators itself than with the information that may be exchanged during talks. In wage and collective bargaining, not only wage increases and benefits but also bonus pools, performance outlooks, labor cost aggregates, hiring plans, organizational restructuring directions, and job-specific compensation strategies can be discussed directly or indirectly. If the structure allows a branch leader from a competitor to be listed as a chief negotiator, management will inevitably become sensitive about the scope of materials provided and how they are managed.
Kakao and Naver are leading platform corporations that compete in the same labor market for core talent such as developers, planners, and data personnel. Wage levels, bonus criteria, benefits systems, and evaluation and compensation structures are competitive factors that directly affect talent inflow and outflow.
◇ Legally, delegation of bargaining authority is possible
Legally, it is difficult to view the mere participation of a union officer from a rival company as a chief negotiator or bargaining committee member as immediately unlawful. The Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act allows a person delegated by a labor union or employer to conduct bargaining or conclude a collective agreement to exercise that authority within the scope delegated. In addition, the enforcement decree of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act stipulates that when bargaining authority is delegated, the contents of the delegation, such as the name of the delegate, bargaining matters, and the scope of authority, must be notified to the other party.
This is why it is possible to interpret the practice of an industry-level union delegating bargaining authority to a branch officer under it or to an officer at another establishment as falling within the delegation structure envisioned by law. An administrative interpretation by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) also held that an employer cannot refuse collective bargaining solely because the labor union selected the rival company's union chairperson as a bargaining committee member.
However, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) added a caveat. If bargaining authority is delegated to a rival company's union representative and concerns grow about the leakage of nonpublic internal information or management secrets during the process, and it is recognized by social norms that it is difficult to expect the employer to perform the duty of normal collective bargaining, then refusal to bargain may be possible. In short, cross-designation of chief negotiators is not illegal per se, but the scope of information access and confidentiality measures can become separate issues.
◇ Bonus disputes expand the burden of information disclosure
The controversy surfaced as the Kakao union remains in conflict with management over the criteria for paying bonuses. The Kakao union is confronting management by demanding that a set percentage of operating profit be allocated as the bonus pool. The union argues that the criteria for calculating bonuses are opaque and that employee compensation is low relative to the company's performance.
For corporations, such talks increase the burden of disclosure. Bonuses are directly tied to corporate performance. Without explaining how much can be set aside for the bonus pool, how much operating profit can improve this year, and to what extent expense controls are needed, it is difficult to persuade the union. However, if a branch leader from a rival company is listed as a chief negotiator in that structure, management can only be cautious about how far to disclose core information.
It is also burdensome that the scope of labor-management bargaining is expanding. Beyond wages and benefits, issues such as personnel redeployment, hiring scale, and organizational direction can become bargaining points. In the case of IT corporations, strategies for artificial intelligence (AI) investment, cloud, content, and commerce, new business staffing, and development organization operations can also be connected as the background to labor cost management and organizational direction.
◇ Collective action solidarity and designating chief negotiators are separate
Industry-level cross-support is a tool for unions to bolster the bargaining power of weaker branches. When an experienced officer supports another branch, it can reduce information asymmetry with management and help raise working conditions within similar sectors. In the IT industry, there have been cases in which branch officers from other companies joined on-site when a strike or restructuring issue arose at one company, carrying out solidarity activities.
However, some point out that collective action solidarity and designating a chief negotiator are different in nature. Participating together in rallies or picketing is one thing; having a rival company's branch leader listed as a representative in bargaining procedures where wages, bonuses, and business outlooks may be discussed is another. In particular, IT corporations differ widely by company in performance, business structure, talent acquisition strategy, and job-specific compensation systems. Because each corporation's compensation system and personnel strategy are part of its competitiveness, designating a branch leader from another establishment as chief negotiator can go beyond simple union solidarity and escalate into corporate secrets and conflict-of-interest controversies.
So far, there have been no confirmed cases of direct information leaks. What some in the industry fear is the structural risk rather than whether leaks have actually occurred. If sensitive information can be exchanged during bargaining and, in that process, a branch leader from a rival company can be designated as a chief negotiator, management is likely to take a defensive stance toward the bargaining itself. Ultimately, the issue is not only the legitimacy of industry-level bargaining support but also how to establish safeguards for protecting corporate information.
Kim Kyung-won, a distinguished professor in the Department of Business Administration at Sejong University, said, "If it is legally permissible for a branch leader from a rival company to be designated as another company's chief negotiator, then in the future a labor union officer from a Chinese corporation could join forces with the Samsung Electronics union in Korea as a chief negotiator, and it could be exploited as a channel for technology leaks," adding, "From the corporations' perspective, there is a need to ask the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) to improve the system." He added, "We need to find a balance between the rationale of strengthening unions' bargaining power and the practical need to protect corporations' sensitive information."