CJ Logistics Apologizes and Announces Measures for Delivery Workers' Deaths from Overwork Today

Sales Soar in Non-Face-to-Face Settings... Apologies Amid Consecutive Accidents

On the 21st, delivery workers are sorting packages at the CJ Logistics Gangnam 2 Branch terminal parcel sorting site in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] CJ Logistics, the number one courier company, will issue a public apology and present measures to prevent recurrence on the 22nd in response to the recent series of overwork-related deaths among delivery workers. This comes amid the rapid growth of the courier market due to the spread of non-face-to-face culture caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Park Geun-hee, Vice Chairman and CEO of CJ Logistics, will hold a press conference near Jung-gu, Seoul at 2:30 p.m. on the same day to publicly apologize to the nation and disclose protection measures for workers in relation to the recent consecutive overwork-related deaths of delivery workers. This follows the sudden death of the late Kim Won-jong (48), a CJ Logistics employee who handled over 400 packages a day, as well as other incidents presumed to be caused by overwork, prompting the company to bow its head in apology.

At a private meeting with the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee, which inspected the courier sorting center at Gangnam 2 Branch Terminal in Seocho-gu, Seoul the day before, Vice Chairman Park reportedly said, "We deeply feel responsible" and "We will fundamentally resolve these unfortunate incidents caused by overwork."

Hanjin Co., Ltd. also issued an apology statement on the 20th. This followed the discovery of a deceased delivery worker, Kim (36), affiliated with Hanjin, found dead at his home on the 12th. Before his death, Kim left a message to a colleague saying, "If I get home, it’s 5 a.m., then I eat, wash up, and immediately go to the terminal because of sorting work. I can’t even get a moment’s rest, and then I have to organize packages at the terminal again. Today, I carried 420 packages out." Hanjin expressed "deep remorse" and pledged to "establish fundamental improvement measures to prevent overwork among delivery workers."

CJ Logistics has prepared comprehensive measures related to the safety and health of delivery workers. Primarily, these are expected to include adjusting package volumes for delivery workers, reducing working hours, and strengthening health checkups.

Measures to alleviate the so-called "sorting work," which delivery workers have cited as a main cause of intense labor, are also expected to be included. Sorting work involves categorizing courier boxes by delivery area and loading them, accounting for about 40% of the average daily working hours.

While CJ Logistics claims that the installation of wheel sorters (automated parcel sorting machines) has reduced the burden of sorting work, delivery workers respond that this does not reflect reality. For this reason, labor groups have urged courier companies to expand sorting work personnel and implement countermeasures. A CJ Logistics official stated, "We are considering comprehensive measures to reduce the burden of sorting work."

The courier industry has shown significant performance improvements due to the spread of non-face-to-face culture amid COVID-19. According to the securities industry, CJ Logistics, the industry leader, is estimated to have processed 418.9 million packages in the third quarter, a 26.5% increase compared to the same period last year. Sales in the courier division are also estimated to have increased by 17.1% to 778.2 billion KRW. Hanjin, which announced preliminary results earlier, reported cumulative sales of 1.6178 trillion KRW and operating profit of 81.9 billion KRW for the third quarter, up 6.1% and 24.1% year-on-year, respectively.

However, this increase in volume has led to worsening working conditions for delivery workers. Including the late Kim Won-jong (48) of CJ Logistics, who suddenly died after handling over 400 packages a day, 11 delivery workers have died or taken extreme measures due to overwork or financial hardship this year alone.