Changwon Mayor Heo Seong-mu Takes Action to Protect Parcel Delivery Workers' Rights

Urging Central Government Ministries to Establish Institutional Protection Measures for Delivery Workers

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Choi Hyun-joo] On the 26th, Heo Seong-mu, mayor of Changwon City, proposed "Institutional Protection Measures for Delivery Workers" to central government departments to protect the rights and interests of delivery workers.

Mayor Heo stated, "Currently, the delivery industry has structural problems and poor working conditions, making it impossible for individuals to reduce their working hours by their own will. If the government does not actively intervene, unfortunate incidents could happen repeatedly at any time."

As institutional protection measures for delivery workers, Mayor Heo suggested alternatives to solve the structural problems of the delivery industry, including ▲establishing standard contract guidelines that separate sorting and delivery ▲abolishing clauses excluding workers from industrial accident insurance ▲introducing a Saturday day off system ▲and reaching social consensus.

Changwon City is investing about 4 billion KRW of city funds to provide emergency employment support to protect special-type workers who fall into blind spots of existing systems due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), and is reviewing multifaceted support such as conducting a survey on platform workers' actual conditions.