Kakao Union: "Negotiation Breakdown Due to Management's Evasion of Responsibility and Neglect of Job Insecurity"

"Kakao Enterprise Shifts Responsibility for Business Failures onto Workers"

The Kakao labor union has pointed to management's evasion of responsibility and neglect of job insecurity as the main causes of the breakdown in labor-management negotiations. The union is increasing pressure on management ahead of its first planned strike on June 10.

The Kakao branch of the Korean Federation of Chemical, Textile, and Food Industry Workers' Unions (Kakao Union) issued a statement on June 4, stating, "The biggest reasons for the collapse of the wage and collective bargaining agreement at Kakao Enterprise are the management's avoidance of responsibility, unilateral imposition of hardship, and the long-standing problem of job insecurity that has been left unaddressed."

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The Kakao Union further criticized, "Even though the cloud business, which is the core business of Kakao Enterprise, is a strategic business at the Kakao community level, there is still no clear mid- to long-term vision or business roadmap being presented."

According to the union, Kakao Enterprise faced a management crisis due to poor performance following large-scale investments during the tenure of former CEO Baek Sangyeop. In this process, restructuring was carried out for more than half of all employees. The union claims that even after the management was replaced by former CEO Lee Kyungjin and current CEO Lee Wonjoo, only repeated organizational restructuring and workforce reductions occurred, without addressing the fundamental problems.

Oh Chimoon, Vice President of the Kakao Union, stressed, "Management must not shift the burden of restructuring and job insecurity, which are consequences of business failures, solely onto the workers. The company must clearly explain its plans to secure competitiveness."

Seo Seungwook, President of the Kakao Union, criticized, "Kakao must either fulfill its promised reinstatements, or Kakao Enterprise must set a clear deadline and complete reassignments according to job category and career. The current approach, where management simply waits for vacancies to arise within the community, is not a solution but practically an abdication of responsibility."

The Kakao Union is demanding that Kakao's management: ▲ disclose the mid- to long-term vision and business roadmap for Kakao Enterprise; ▲ make responsible investments and provide support for the cloud business at the community level; ▲ immediately resolve job insecurity issues within the search organization; and ▲ present concrete plans for reassignment of employees.

The Kakao Union emphasized, "What is needed is not management that forces sacrifice, but a clear direction and responsible decisions that allow us to create the future together. If the company presents real solutions, the union will also do its utmost to reach a prompt settlement of the wage and collective bargaining agreements."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.