Members of Kakao's labor union hold banners during a sit-in protest near the mobile platform group's Pangyo office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Yonhap
Tech giant Kakao’s labor union staged its first-ever walkout on Wednesday, escalating a dispute with management over performance-based compensation after labor and management failed to reach an agreement.
It is rare for a labor union in the IT industry to launch a strike. The industry is closely watching how the labor dispute at Kakao develops, as it could affect bonus talks in other companies across the sector.
The union staged a partial strike from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The walkout included employees from Kakao and its affiliates — Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin and XL Games. According to the union, about 1,500 workers across the five entities, including around 1,000 employees from Kakao itself, took part in the action.
About 800 union members also held a sit-in rally in front of Kakao’s Pangyo office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, followed by an 800-meter march from Pangyo Station on the Shinbundang Line.
