Naver Union Pushes for Integrated Bargaining... Forum Held, Official Declaration Set for the 20th

"Agenda to Be Unveiled at Official Declaration Ceremony"

Naver’s labor union is accelerating efforts to push for integrated negotiations encompassing its subsidiaries. Integrated bargaining aims to discuss wage agreements, incentives, and other labor issues—which have previously been handled separately by the headquarters and subsidiary unions—at a single negotiating table.

The Naver branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ Chemical, Textile and Food Workers’ Union (Naver Union) announced on the 11th that it would hold a forum at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building on the 12th to explain the background behind this push for integrated bargaining and to present the union’s position.

On the 20th, the union is also planning to hold an official declaration ceremony to demand integrated bargaining from management and to unveil the related agenda items.

The recent move toward integrated negotiations is largely driven by the newly amended Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (often referred to as the Yellow Envelope Law). The revised law expands the definition of “employer” to include any party that can substantially and concretely control working conditions, which has prompted labor groups to argue that Naver headquarters now bears direct responsibility for labor negotiations.

As a result, demands for direct bargaining, which were previously centered mainly around a few sub-subsidiaries like Studio Rico, are now spreading across key subsidiaries—such as Naver Cloud, Naver Webtoon, Snow, Naver Z, and Cream.

The union at Naver Z, the operator of the metaverse platform Zepeto, recently approved a strike authorization vote among its members with 98% in favor. This came after the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission decided to halt mediation; if the union proceeds with an actual strike, it would mark the first instance of a strike within the Naver Group since its inception.

Management at Naver Z has proposed a wage freeze citing deteriorating business performance, but the Naver Union reportedly demanded a 5.3% salary increase, in line with what headquarters employees receive.

An IT industry representative commented, “If integrated bargaining becomes a reality, Naver—which is preparing for large-scale infrastructure investments such as the AI Factory—could face increased risks from higher labor costs and greater organizational management burdens. Just as Kakao’s headquarters and five subsidiaries jointly engaged in collective bargaining, it will be important to watch how Naver responds to the union’s call for integrated negotiations, starting with this forum.”

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