Lunar New Year Gifts in Jeopardy... Parcel Delivery Union's Total Strike Imminent

Demand for Courier Company to Bear Sorting Costs
If No Conclusion at Social Agreement Body
General Strike Expected on 27th

On the afternoon of the 18th, in front of the Hanjin Express headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, members of the Countermeasures Committee for Deaths from Overwork among Delivery Workers held a press conference condemning the overwork-related deaths at Hanjin Express.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, concerns are rising that a 'logistics crisis' may occur as the courier union has announced a total strike.

According to the courier union on the 19th, the 5th meeting of the social agreement body between the courier industry and the union will be held at 2 p.m. at the National Assembly in Yeouido. The union has declared that if no agreement is reached on that day, they will launch a total strike on the 27th.

If the union goes on strike, about 5,500 courier workers are expected to participate, which is approximately 11% of the nationwide 50,000 courier workers. Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), non-face-to-face consumption has increased, causing courier volumes to surge last year. Amid this, deaths of courier workers presumed to be from overwork have continued. Courier companies announced support measures in October last year, stating they would deploy personnel for sorting work. However, the union claims that even the promised measures have not been properly implemented.

The union particularly points to sorting work as the biggest cause of courier workers' overwork deaths. Sorting work refers to the task where courier workers select their own parcels at the logistics warehouse. Couriers can only start delivery after sorting is completed. In December last year, the National Assembly passed the Living Logistics Act, which mandates courier businesses to prevent overwork of courier workers and includes improvements in worker treatment such as the introduction of standard contracts and a six-year renewal claim right, but it did not clearly assign responsibility for sorting work.

As a result, the sorting work issue has continuously been at the center of conflict between the industry and the union. The companies express that issues related to deploying sorting personnel are being sequentially negotiated with agencies regarding cost-sharing, making immediate resolution difficult. The union stated, "In a desperate situation where courier volumes are surging due to the spread of COVID-19 and the year-end and New Year period, additional overwork deaths are anticipated."

Challenges are also expected at the scheduled social agreement body meeting that day. Originally, the social agreement body planned to discuss in sequence through several working-level meetings ▲clarification of courier sorting tasks ▲improvement of working conditions (introduction of a five-day workweek, appropriate working hours, etc.) ▲win-win measures between distribution and courier industries to guarantee appropriate fees ▲establishment of a fair industrial structure by eradicating abuse of power in the courier industry ▲public discussion on courier pricing and transaction structure improvements, but no consensus has been reached.

The union demands that to prevent overwork deaths, courier companies must implement ▲deployment of sorting personnel ▲suspension of night deliveries and allowance of delayed deliveries ▲normalization of courier fees. Among these, the union insists that courier companies should bear the full cost of deploying sorting personnel and be responsible for their management.