Delivery Workers Withdraw Refusal of Sorting Tasks... Avoid Delivery Disruptions During Chuseok Holiday

On the 17th, a press conference titled "Full Refusal of Parcel Workers' Sorting Work and Announcement of the Parcel Workers' Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee's Position" was held at the National Democratic Labor Union Federation conference room in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Delivery workers who had declared a refusal to perform parcel sorting tasks withdrew their refusal policy after one day on the 18th, following government measures such as increasing manpower.

The "Delivery Workers Overwork Death Countermeasure Committee," composed of labor and civic groups, stated in a press release that day, "Considering the government's efforts and the public inconvenience caused by the complete refusal of sorting tasks, we have decided to change the planned course of action," adding, "We will immediately send requests for cooperation regarding the deployment of sorting personnel to each delivery company and agency, and plan to adjust the start time to 9 a.m. from the 23rd in accordance with the deployment of sorting personnel."

This means that workers will start their shifts two hours later than usual at each terminal where parcels are gathered. While the complete refusal of sorting tasks is withdrawn, working hours will be reduced in line with the increased manpower.

The committee emphasized, "We demand that the government and the delivery industry thoroughly ensure the deployment of sorting personnel as announced this time," and added, "In particular, the government must conduct daily inspections and on-site guidance to ensure that the delivery industry deploys sorting personnel in a way that reduces the workload of delivery workers."

Previously, the committee held a press conference the day before, stating that delivery workers were performing excessive parcel sorting tasks without compensation and announced that about 4,000 delivery workers nationwide would begin refusing sorting tasks on the 21st.

In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced measures on the same day, including the additional deployment of about 10,000 sorting personnel daily during the Chuseok peak season.

With the withdrawal of the refusal to perform sorting tasks by delivery workers, the situation of partial disruptions in delivery services ahead of the Chuseok holiday has been averted for the time being.