Strike authorisation votes held at 5 Kakao group entities all passed. Kakao's head office has yet to secure the legal right to strike, and the outcome of a second mediation round on May 27 is expected to determine whether group-wide collective action spreads.

The Kakao branch of the Korean Federation of Chemical Textile Food Industry Trade Unions, known as Crew Union, held a rally on May 20 at Pangyo Station Plaza in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. It officially announced the results of strike votes conducted at 5 entities through 11 a.m. that day. The union said all 5 entities approved the strike and that it would share future plans now that it has secured a legal right to take industrial action.

With the votes approved, 4 affiliates including Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin and XL Games meet the requirements to begin industrial action such as strikes. The 4 entities had already secured the right to strike after the Gyeonggi Provincial Labor Relations Commission halted mediation procedures earlier. A mediation halt is a legal process that ends mediation when it is judged difficult for labour and management to reach an agreement.

Kakao's head office is in a different situation. Labour and management at the head office failed to reach a final agreement at a first mediation meeting on May 18, but extended the mediation date to May 27 by mutual consent. The strike vote passed, but the head office has not yet secured the right to strike. If the second mediation on May 27 also fails to produce an agreement, the head office union is expected to move to secure that right. If the union at Kakao's head office actually goes on strike, it would be the first since the company was founded.

Earlier, unions at the 5 entities filed a mediation request with the Gyeonggi commission on May 7 amid labour-management conflict over the performance compensation system. A total of 12 entities took part in the rally, including those 5 where talks broke down, and the IT committee of the chemical, textile and food industry union, including Naver, Nexon and Neople, also joined in solidarity.

The industry is watching the possibility of an expansion into joint group-wide collective action if the May 27 mediation outcome at the head office aligns with the 4 affiliates that have already entered the path toward strikes.