Kakao’s Crew Union will stage a full-day strike on June 25, 2025 after failed talks with Kakao Mobility over job security and future ownership plans.

The strike comes after smaller actions, including a two-hour walkout last week and a planned four-hour strike and rally on June 11, 2025.

The conflict arises from Kakao’s strategy to streamline its portfolio, raising concerns about potential sales of key subsidiaries, including Kakao Mobility.

The union says management offered low compensation despite strong company performance, and demands better treatment and transparency.

Meanwhile, a similar dispute is occurring at Naver, where the union opposes the reinstatement of former Chief Operating Officer Choi In-hyuk.

Choi resigned over a workplace harassment case linked to an employee’s suicide and was reappointed as head of Naver’s tech business division last month.

The Naver’s union demands accountability and transparency, asserting that Choi should take responsibility for the harassment incident.

Experts link both disputes to broader issues in the tech sector, including rigid hierarchies, long hours, and lack of dialogue between workers and management.

🔗 Source: The Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Tech industry unions represent a broader global trend, not an isolated Korean phenomenon

Kakao and Naver’s labor disputes mirror similar movements across the global tech industry, where workers are increasingly organizing despite the sector’s historically low unionization rates.

The 2018 Google walkout marked a significant moment when 20,000 employees across 50 cities protested the company’s handling of sexual harassment claims, signaling a shift in tech worker activism1.

Like the Kakao employees concerned about job security following potential divestiture plans, Google workers demonstrated that tech employees are willing to collectively advocate for workplace issues ranging from ethics to compensation.

Labor experts noted the Google protests’ “unprecedented scale and coordination,” highlighting a new era of organizing in an industry where collective action was previously rare2.

This trend extends beyond individual companies, with the formation of new organizing models like the Alphabet Workers Union, showing how tech workers are adapting traditional union structures to fit the industry’s unique characteristics3.