Kakao Union Plans Major Strike: What Led to the Breakdown in Wage Negotiations?

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By Oh Doo-hwan, The Public. The Kakao union announced it will stage collective action on the 20th. The union says this year’s wage negotiations collapsed not over a simple demand for bonuses but because grievances have accumulated around the company’s compensation system, workplace conditions and management’s decision-making practices.

On the 11th, the Kakao branch of the National Chemical, Textile and Food Industry Workers’ Union said wage talks this year finally broke down across five corporate entities — Kakao, Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin and XL Games. The union has filed for mediation with the Gyeonggi Provincial Labor Relations Commission.

The union rejected the company’s claim that the talks collapsed solely over bonus demands. It said the company’s “10% of operating profit” bonus proposal was only one of several options discussed during intensive negotiations.

Union leaders said the core problem is how management allocates rewards. Despite strong corporate performance for years, the compensation reaching rank-and-file employees has been limited. The union described this as management’s exclusive capture of gains.

Workplace conditions also emerged as a major grievance. The union cited excessive working hours, inadequate responses to alleged workplace harassment and coercing employees to consent to forensic examinations as key sources of conflict.

The Kakao union said, “The failure of the talks is not attributable to a single issue of performance bonuses; it is the result of management repeatedly making unilateral decisions.”

The union plans to hold a rally on the 20th at the plaza outside Pangyo Station in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. There it will demand reforms at Kakao, call for broad workplace protections and begin coordinated labor action.