SEOUL, August 07 (AJP) - A wage agreement that took 18 rounds of bargaining and the first strike in the company's history was ratified this week, closing a roughly three-month standoff at Kakao over how the South Korean technology company pays for performance.
The deal applies a 6.3 percent increase measured against the funding base for total annual salary, excluding money set aside for stage-up raises tied to moves into higher job grades and roles. Employees also receive a special bonus of 3 million won, about $2,110.
"Voting by members on the tentative agreement has been completed," the Kakao branch of the Korean Chemical, Textile and Food Workers' Union said Friday.
Both sides had agreed since early this year that pay would rise. What they could not agree on was the formula underneath it.
The union sought a 6.9 percent raise and a defined standard for performance pay set at 13 to 14 percent of operating profit, worth about 10 million won a person, or roughly $7,030. Kakao countered with 6.8 percent and performance pay funded at 10 percent of operating profit, on the condition that restricted stock units already promised to employees be counted inside that pool.
Restricted stock units are company shares granted to staff that convert into ownership only after a set holding period.
Talks went nowhere. The Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission suspended mediation on May 27, a ruling that handed the union the legal right to take industrial action and turned a bargaining impasse into a labor dispute.
Members walked out for four hours on June 10, the first strike since Kakao was founded.
The pressure continued through the summer. On June 29 employees took annual leave and logged out of internal work systems in a protest the union called a logout day. Picket demonstrations followed inside company offices on July 21.
The two sides reached a tentative settlement on July 29.
"We plan to faithfully implement the agreement reached in these negotiations and to work together on sustainable growth and a working environment where members can focus more on their work," a Kakao official said.
The agreement closes once the two sides complete the remaining steps, including a signing ceremony.
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