Kakao union to hold 'Log-Out Day' Monday as bonus dispute drags on

By Yang Geun-hyuk, The Herald Business

The Kakao union will hold a "Log-Out Day" on Monday, with members taking full-day leave or days off and logging out of all internal work systems, as talks with management over the company's performance bonus structure remain deadlocked.

Management said it will continue dialogue with the union while maintaining a real-time response system to prevent any disruption to services.

The action follows a half-day strike on June 10. On Log-Out Day, union members take full-day leave or personal days off, stepping away entirely from work and disconnecting from all internal company systems.

The five entities covered are the same as in the first strike: Kakao, Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Tech In and XL Games.

Kakao's main union has about 2,500 members, and industry observers expect participation to reach as many as 3,000 when members from affiliates are included. The actual turnout, however, will only be confirmed on the day of the action.

The union said it has no plans for an offline rally or a separate public statement, and that any further steps will be decided based on how negotiations develop.

Kakao's labor and management have been unable to narrow their differences for two months since collective bargaining broke down in May over the performance bonus structure. The union is demanding bonuses worth about 10 million won ($6,470) per person — equivalent to roughly 13 to 14 percent of operating profit — but management has said the demand would place an undue burden on the company and cannot be accepted.

The tech industry is watching closely to see what impact the Log-Out Day will have on services, given that unlike the first half-day strike, members will be away for a full day and completely off internal systems.

About 1,000 members at the headquarters and roughly 1,500 across the five entities joined the first strike, yet no service outages occurred. The limited impact was attributed to a high degree of automation in service operations.

This time, however, the union has signaled a larger turnout, and with members disconnecting from both work and internal systems for an entire day, some observers say emergency response could be affected if an incident arises.