KakaoBank Union Achieves Majority Status: "Performance Must Be Distributed Fairly"

Union States: “Distrust Toward Management Has Deepened”

KakaoBank’s labor union, the Kakao Branch of the Korean Federation of Chemical, Textile, and Food Industry Workers’ Unions, announced on July 27 that its membership has surpassed half of all company employees, achieving majority-union status.

The Kakao Branch stated that it is proceeding with the necessary procedures to confirm its majority status as a union, and plans to hold a celebration event next month to commemorate this achievement, strengthen solidarity, and share the significance with its members.

The Kakao Branch emphasized that reaching majority-union status is not just about an increase in membership. Rather, it reflects employees’ growing concerns about management’s stance in negotiations and the company’s compensation structure.

In particular, the union claimed that membership has surged because there is a growing perception that management inadequately reflected employees’ demands and failed to present practical solutions during this year’s wage and collective bargaining negotiations.

The union also pointed out that compensation for the majority of employees responsible for the company’s growth has not met expectations, while rewards based on business performance have concentrated on a handful of executives.

It is also known that last year, a substantial portion of the board of directors’ total compensation was paid to a small group of inside directors at KakaoBank. Furthermore, at this year’s regular shareholders’ meeting, the upper limit for directors’ compensation was raised from 5 billion won to 8 billion won, fueling even greater discontent among employees.

The Kakao Branch called on management to acknowledge the union as a genuine negotiation and business partner following the attainment of majority status.

Seungwook Seo, head of the Kakao Branch, remarked, “The achievement of majority-union status at KakaoBank shows that distrust toward management has grown due to their ongoing disregard of employees’ voices. While the employees who have contributed to the company’s success are demanding fair compensation, management has concentrated rewards among a small number of executives and has asked only the rank-and-file to make concessions.”

He added, “This majority-union milestone is a clear warning to management that employees’ voices can no longer be ignored. The union will continue to fulfill its responsibilities, leveraging its majority strength to ensure that performance is distributed fairly and that the views of employees are meaningfully reflected in management decisions and working conditions.”

Yonhap News Agency

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