KakaoBank workers launched an all-day strike on Friday. The photo shows members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Chemical and Food Workers' Union Kakao chapter staging a picket protest on July 21 at Pangyo Techone in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province — the building where KakaoBank is headquartered — denouncing the company's wage increase rate and performance bonus structure. [Newsis]
KakaoBank workers launched an all-day strike on Friday. The photo shows members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Chemical and Food Workers' Union Kakao chapter staging a picket protest on July 21 at Pangyo Techone in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province — the building where KakaoBank is headquartered — denouncing the company's wage increase rate and performance bonus structure. [Newsis]

KakaoBank's labor union launched an all-day strike on Friday, marking the first work stoppage since the internet-only bank began operations.

The union, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Chemical and Food Workers' Union Kakao chapter, proceeded with the strike as planned, demanding a performance compensation structure commensurate with the company's earnings and a transparent, predictable standard for bonus payments.

Labor and management failed to narrow their differences over the performance compensation structure during this year's wage negotiations. The Gyeonggi Province Regional Labor Relations Commission found the gap between the two sides too wide to continue mediation and suspended the process. No further negotiations took place after the suspension, and the specific details of the talks have not been made public.

Rather than holding rallies or large-scale demonstrations, union members are taking the day off using their annual leave. No separate collective action is currently planned. Park Seong-eui, senior vice chairman of the Kakao union chapter, said the strike targets KakaoBank only and that no picket protests or other actions are scheduled.

A KakaoBank official said the company is doing its utmost to minimize customer inconvenience and maintain stable service operations, adding that it is strictly following a pre-established business continuity plan centered on on-site staff, personnel handling core duties, and workers designated under the labor-management collective agreement.

Meanwhile, Kakao's headquarters union and management have reached a tentative wage agreement, keeping Kakao's own employees out of the strike. Kakao Enterprise and Kakao Pay, which had previously joined joint collective action, have also effectively concluded their respective agreements with management. By contrast, KakaoBank, DK Tech In and XL Games have yet to wrap up negotiations, leaving outcomes split across affiliates.


won@heraldcorp.com