Repeated Deaths of Overworked Delivery Workers... Delivery Workers' Union Calls It "Murder by Negligent Intent" (Comprehensive)

On the afternoon of the 19th, a "Press Conference by Parcel Consumers Condemning Large Corporation Parcel Companies and Urging Prevention of Overwork Deaths of Parcel Workers" is being held in front of the Admiral Yi Sun-sin statue at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the parcel delivery industry has seen an increase in workload, and workers are dying one after another from suspected overwork-related deaths.

According to the Parcel Delivery Workers Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee on the 19th, Kim (36), who worked at Hanjin Delivery Dongdaemun Branch Sinjeongneung Agency, was found dead at his home on the 12th of this month.

The committee stated, "He was a young man of 36 years with no known underlying health conditions," and claimed, "This is a clear case of overwork death without any doubt."

According to the committee, four days before his death, at 4:28 a.m. on the 8th of this month, Kim sent a message to a colleague saying, "If I get home by 5, I have to eat, wash up, and immediately go to the terminal without any sleep, and then I have to do parcel sorting again. It’s too exhausting."

On the same day, the committee held a condemnation press conference in front of Hanjin Delivery headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, together with Kim’s bereaved family, demanding an official apology, compensation, and measures to prevent recurrence.

Park Seok-woon, co-representative of the Parcel Delivery Workers Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee, called it "murder by implied intent" and urged the government, "Will you just let parcel delivery workers continue to die like this?" According to the committee, a total of 12 parcel delivery industry workers have died this year, including 9 delivery drivers.

Regarding the committee’s claim of overwork death, Hanjin Delivery reportedly explained that "Kim had underlying health conditions and his delivery volume was relatively low, around 200 parcels."

There have been ongoing criticisms that the so-called "free labor" known as "sorting work" is the cause of the repeated deaths of parcel delivery workers. Parcel sorting refers to the task where delivery drivers pick out their own parcels at the logistics warehouse. Delivery drivers can only start their main job of "delivery" after finishing sorting. Sorting is a labor-intensive and time-consuming task, but the company claims that the sorting cost is included in the delivery fee and has not proposed measures such as additional manpower or allowances.

However, the parcel delivery union argues that drivers spend an average of 6 to 7 hours a day on sorting work, resulting in daily working hours exceeding 13 hours. On the 17th of last month, the National Parcel Delivery Solidarity Union raised the sorting work issue and even resolved to go on a general strike. The strike was averted after the government and companies promised to provide manpower support for about 2,000 workers. Nevertheless, the union claims that the actual number of workers deployed on site remains minimal despite the government’s manpower support plan.

Since COVID-19, parcel delivery volumes have surged, and there have already been 10 cases of overwork deaths among parcel delivery workers. Of the 24 deaths in the past five years, 10 occurred this year alone.