[Edaily Kim Hyun-ah Reporter Lee So-hyun] Kakao(035720) While some have interpreted the inclusion of the NAVER (#NAVER) union chairperson on the list of bargaining representatives for the Kakao labor union as a structure where a rival company’s union gives final approval to the negotiation proposal, it has been explained that this is actually in accordance with the bargaining system of the IT Committee under the National Chemical, Textile, and Food Workers’ Union (CTFU), which is affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

According to industry sources on the 2nd, the Kakao labor union is an affiliate of the KCTU’s National Chemical, Textile, and Food Workers’ Union, and operates under a structure in which the IT Committee of the National Chemical, Textile, and Food Workers’ Union exercises bargaining authority during the negotiation process.

In this process, Oh Se-yoon, Chair of the IT Committee of the Chemical, Textile, and Food Workers’ Union, is listed as the Kakao bargaining representative. Since Chair Oh also serves as the chair of the Naver branch, it may appear on the surface as though the Naver union is participating in the Kakao negotiations.

However, this differs from the structure in which unions at competing companies separately endorse or give final approval to Kakao’s labor-management negotiation proposals.

The IT division under the Textile, Chemical, and Food Workers’ Union operates by having branch executives share the authority to act as bargaining representatives; it is not structured such that a union at one company independently decides whether to accept a labor-management agreement reached by another company.

Previous reports had suggested that the Kakao labor-management negotiation proposal is subject to final approval by the Naver union, while conversely, Naver’s labor-management negotiations are approved by the Kakao union—a so-called “cross-approval” system.

Since the IT Committee of the Textile, Food, and Chemical Workers’ Union is an organization that encompasses unions from multiple IT and gaming companies, some interpret that the practice of designating bargaining representatives at the committee level could be perceived from the outside as cross-participation by rival companies’ unions.