Naver Subsidiary Naver Z Stages Full-Scale Strike Over Wage Freeze and Lack of Communication

Union Plans Five-Day Consecutive Strike Starting October 19

The Naver Branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in the Chemical Fiber Food Industry Union announced that members belonging to Naver Z conducted a full strike for one day on the 23rd. On that day, union members held a picket in front of the Green Factory, Naver headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province. Provided by the Naver Branch

Naver Z, a subsidiary of NAVER, staged a full-day strike in protest against the management's unilateral wage freeze.

The Naver Branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Chemical, Textile, and Food Industry Union announced that union members belonging to Naver Z carried out a full-day strike on the 23rd.

Naver Z operates the global metaverse platform ZEPETO, which has a total of 400 million cumulative users and over 8 million current users. According to Naver Z, "This full-scale strike was launched because, although the union repeatedly urged the management to change its stance in wage negotiations, the company remained silent, prompting the union to escalate its protest. Today, about 120 Naver Z union members participated in the one-day annual leave strike."

Earlier that morning, around 20 union members took part in picketing in front of NAVER's Green Factory headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province.

Starting at 10 a.m., union members also held a 30-minute live YouTube broadcast, demanding a responsible explanation regarding the current management crisis from CEO Kim Changwook. CEO Kim currently holds co-CEO titles at four key NAVER subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries—Snow, Naver Z, Cream, and Cake—and among them, employee salaries at Naver Z and Cake have been frozen.

In the YouTube live broadcast, Naver branch head Oh Seyoon criticized, "The culture of wielding authority without bearing responsibility keeps repeating itself at NAVER. Normally, management does not share authority with members, but when the company faces difficulties, the cause and responsibility are shifted onto the employees." He added, "Our demands—to withdraw the wage freeze and have a conclusive discussion with CEO Kim over Z’s future—remain unchanged. After the Chuseok holidays, we will send an open inquiry to CEO Kim Changwook and Chairman Lee Haejin."

The union also warned that if management’s stance does not change following this full-scale strike, it plans to launch further collective action, including a five-day consecutive strike beginning on October 19.

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