The Kakao union will hold a joint negotiation declaration ceremony for the Kakao community and a resolution meeting for the Kakao Bank continuous strike at the Pangyo Station Plaza at 1 p.m. on the 26th.
The Kakao Association (Kakao Union) of the National Chemical Fiber and Food Industry Workers' Union (Kakao Union) issued a statement with these contents on the 21st.
This day's event is the first large-scale union event held immediately after Kakao announced that it would split the company into Kakao AI and Kakao X.
In a statement on this day, the Kakao union pointed out, “Kakao presented the reasons for this division as improving corporate value and improving the efficiency of decision-making and capital allocation,” and added, “The reason for damaging corporate value was not only the complex business structure.”
The Kakao union criticized, “It is more important how to protect the employment and working conditions of workers in the event of restructuring, sale, merger, spin-off, or business transfer after the division,” and added, “During this announcement, most members were not provided with sufficient information about their future, and there was no prior consultation with the labor union.”
Seo Seung-wook, head of the Kakao union branch, pointed out, "Splitting Kakao into two may be the company's decision, but the company cannot unilaterally decide on changes in employment and working conditions that result from that decision. Even if the company is split, it cannot split responsibility for management failures and members."
Kakao's position is that it will pursue joint negotiations using this personnel division as an opportunity.
Currently, issues such as wages, compensation, employment security, sale of affiliates, and restructuring occur in each corporation, but the union's position is that decisions regarding major investments, business reorganization, personnel management, and capital allocation are made at the community level.
In particular, the union argued that as the decision-making structure becomes more complex after the division, it is difficult to solve practical problems if the bargaining structure is separated by corporation.
Accordingly, Kakao Association plans to create a structure through joint negotiations where issues that are difficult to resolve by individual corporations, such as responsible management, employment stability, and fair performance distribution, can be discussed with actual decision-makers.
Park Seong, head of the Kakao Union's struggle headquarters, said, "The 26th is the day when Kakao Bank workers decide to fight ahead of a five-day strike in a row, and at the same time, it is the day when Kakao community workers declare that they will no longer resolve problems individually by dividing up each corporation. If the company decides at the community level, the workers will also negotiate and respond at the community level."
Prior to the rally, the Kakao union will hold an open talk for members during lunchtime on the 24th, listen to questions from members about the new corporation and division, and plan to hold additional open talks in the future.
On this day, Kakao held a board meeting and decided to split the company into Kakao AI and Kakao X.
