More than 2,000 employees join full-day walkout as dispute over performance-based pay drags into second month Kakao union members stage a rally demanding higher performance bonuses at U-Space Plaza in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, June 10. (Newsis) Kakao’s union staged an all-day walkout Monday by having members log off from internal work systems, raising pressure on management as a dispute over performance-based pay enters its second month.The action, called “Logout Day” by the union, involves employees taking a full day of leave and staying off company work platforms throughout the day. The union said there were no separate start or end times for the strike.Monday’s walkout is the union’s second collective action undertaken in June, following a four-hour partial strike and street rally on June 10 that drew more than 1,500 participants. The earlier demonstration marked the first strike at Kakao Corp. since the company was founded 20 years ago.The latest protest covers the same five entities: Kakao Corp., Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin and XL Games. The unionized workforce across the five companies is estimated at some 3,000.As of Sunday, about 2,100 employees had signed up to take part in Monday’s action, according to the union. Additional applications were still being received on the day of the walkout, making it likely that the final turnout would be higher.The full-day walkout has raised questions over whether Kakao can keep key services running without disruption, including KakaoTalk, its flagship mobile messenger that dominates South Korea’s market.Kakao said it is maintaining a real-time response system to keep services stable and limit any disruption to users, while continuing talks with the union.“We are operating a real-time response system to maintain stable services and minimize customer impact,” a Kakao official said. “We will continue dialogue and consultations with the union to reach an agreement as soon as possible.”The labor dispute centers on Kakao’s performance bonus system. Collective bargaining talks broke down last month. The two sides have yet to narrow their differences.The union says employees have not been properly rewarded despite Kakao’s strong earnings, with much of the compensation concentrated among executives. It has demanded a bonus of about 10 million won ($6,480) per employee, equivalent to roughly 13 to 14 percent of Kakao’s operating profit last year.The union has also called for what it describes as a fairer evaluation process and stronger employment safeguards, saying management has not responded sincerely to those demands.Management, however, has said the proposal would place a heavy financial burden on the company and is difficult to accept in its current form.