Kakao’s labour union will stage a picket protest on July 21 at Pangyo Agit. It will mark a third collective action after a half-day strike and a logout day last month, as labour and management fail to narrow differences over wage and collective bargaining talks.

The Kakao branch of the Korean Chemical, Textile and Food Industries Workers' Union will hold the picket protest for 1 hour from noon on July 21 inside Kakao’s Pangyo Agit office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi province, industry sources said on Tuesday. Union members will join voluntarily, without a separate rally or march.

After collective bargaining talks collapsed in May, Kakao’s labour and management held a 4-hour partial strike on June 10 and a logout day on June 29. About 1,500 people from 5 entities, including Kakao’s headquarters, KakaoPay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin and XL Games, joined the partial strike. It was the first strike at Kakao’s headquarters in the company’s 20-year history. On the logout day, about 2,100 union members from the 5 entities took annual leave or time off and logged out of work systems as part of the labour dispute.

Talks continued after the two actions but did not reach a final agreement. The company is reported to have proposed applying the union’s requested 6.9 percent annual pay-rise rate for 3 years, but differences remain over a clause to revisit the deal if profits change sharply and over restricted stock units (RSU), leaving negotiations without progress. Management says expanding cash-like compensation could weigh on future investment capacity, while the union counters that cash payments are needed, not RSUs, because they are compensation for immediate performance. Job security has also been raised as an issue at some affiliates, including DK Techin.

The picket protest is set to be voluntary during lunchtime, so its impact on the operation of major services such as KakaoTalk is expected to be limited.

Kakao says it is continuing labour-management dialogue and seeking an early settlement, but the timing of any agreement remains unclear as differences persist.