Unionised workers at Kakao ‘log out’ from office in 2nd collective action

Seoul, June 29 (IANS) Unionised workers of Kakao, South Korea’s messenger app operator, took a day off en masse on Monday in a sign of protest amid a continued gridlock in wage negotiations.

In their second collective action, unionised members staged what they called a “Log-out Day” by taking simultaneous annual leave, reports Yonhap news agency.

Some 2,100 workers from five units of Kakao, including its headquarters, Kakao Pay and Kakao Enterprise, have participated, according to the labor union.

Wage talks between Kakao’s labor union and management have been at a standstill since May, after the two sides failed to narrow differences in performance-based incentives.

The union is reportedly demanding the company pay around 13 to 14 percent of operating profit as bonuses, while the management has rejected such demands, claiming they put too much burden on the company.

On June 10, workers staged their first-ever strike. Some 1,500 union members walked out from their jobs for four hours and rallied near the company’s headquarters in Pangyo, south of Seoul.

Industry watchers are closely following the latest industrial action from Kakao’s union and whether it could cause disruptions to the company’s key services, such as the popular messenger app KakaoTalk.

Kakao’s management said it plans to continue negotiations with the union, while remaining on standby to ensure stable service operations.

Earlier, unionised workers of Samsung Biologics voted in favour of a motion to leave a group-wide labor coalition representing workers across Samsung affiliates.

A motion to change the union’s organisation structure, with the aim to leave the Samsung Group United Union, was passed following a five-day vote, which ran since Wednesday, reports Yonhap news agency.

Of the 4,005 members with voting rights, 2,479 participated and 96.5 percent voted in favour of the move, according to the labor union of Samsung Biologics.

—IANS

na/