Unionized members of Naver Corp. gathered to demand the South Korean tech giant engage in integrated bargaining that encompasses its affiliates, citing wasted resources and discrimination.
The demand for centralized bargaining at Naver highlights potential labor-management tensions and structural issues within large, diversified tech companies, impacting employee relations and operational efficiency across subsidiaries.
Unionized members of Naver Corp., South Korea's leading portal operator, have called on the company to implement centralized bargaining that includes all of its affiliates. Approximately 300 union members gathered at the company's second office building in Gyeonggi Province to voice their demands.
The union criticized Naver's current structure, which they claim allows the parent company to avoid direct accountability by forcing separate, decentralized negotiations across its various subsidiaries. According to the union, over the past year, 16 affiliates conducted a total of 150 negotiations, amounting to roughly 1,000 hours, yet affiliate management reportedly lacked the authority to finalize deals before the headquarters reached an agreement.
Union members argue that this decentralized approach leads to a significant waste of resources and creates a discriminatory environment for affiliates. In response, they formally sent a letter to Naver's headquarters, requesting the establishment of a collective bargaining agreement that covers all 16 affiliates. The demands outlined in the letter include improvements to the integrated management process, expansion of employee welfare benefits, and the creation of a centralized labor-management relationship.