Phew~ Avoided the Lunar New Year Delivery Crisis

Dawn of the 21st: Dramatic Agreement Between Delivery Workers and Company
Delivery Company Responsibility for Sorting Tasks Specified
Union Withdraws General Strike Scheduled for the 27th

Woo Won-sik, Senior Vice Chairman of the Minsheng Liaison Council of the Democratic Party of Korea, is embracing members of the Delivery Workers' Overwork Countermeasures Committee at the announcement ceremony of the 1st agreement of the social agreement body for delivery workers' overwork countermeasures held at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The delivery labor union and companies have agreed to explicitly assign the responsibility for sorting tasks, which had been the center of conflict, to the delivery companies. The delivery union has withdrawn the general strike scheduled for the 27th, thus avoiding a delivery crisis during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The delivery companies and the union reached a final agreement on the government's mediation proposal in the early hours of the 21st.

The delivery labor and management continued the 5th meeting of the social agreement body involving the National Assembly and government on the 19th. After several negotiations failed to reach an agreement, the government side held long discussions with delivery companies opposing the explicit responsibility for sorting tasks on the 20th and prepared a revised proposal.

After consultations between labor and management over the proposal, an agreement was reached. The agreement includes practical measures to prevent overwork such as ▲clarification of delivery sorting tasks ▲scope of work for delivery workers and deployment of dedicated sorting personnel ▲fees for delivery workers performing sorting tasks ▲appropriate working conditions for delivery workers ▲improvement of delivery fees and transaction structures ▲special measures for the Lunar New Year peak season ▲and standard contracts.

In particular, sorting tasks, identified as a main cause of death from overwork, are excluded from the basic work scope of delivery workers. Delivery companies will deploy dedicated sorting personnel and bear the associated costs. If delivery workers inevitably perform sorting tasks, they will be compensated accordingly. Although the principle is that delivery companies cover sorting costs, they may share costs through consultation with agencies. Additionally, measures were included to prevent agencies from passing sorting costs onto delivery workers.

Furthermore, delivery companies will promote automation of sorting facilities. Until automation is implemented, if delivery workers are inevitably involved in sorting tasks, companies will pay higher costs than those for dedicated sorting personnel. The union has emphasized that sorting tasks are not the inherent duties of delivery workers and have contributed to long working hours and deaths from overwork.

The agreement also includes a provision that delivery workers cannot work more than 60 hours per week. Night work will be restricted as well. Late-night deliveries will be limited to 9 p.m., with exceptions allowing deliveries until 10 p.m. during the Lunar New Year peak season. To prevent a reduction in delivery volume and income due to these restrictions, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will start a survey on delivery fees and charges in March and announce improvement measures around June. Considering the special management structure of Logen Delivery, which is currently undergoing a sale process, a separate plan will be prepared to apply this agreement by the first half of the year.

The delivery union decided to halt the two-day strike vote on the 20th and 21st among about 5,500 union members from CJ Logistics, Hanjin Express, Lotte Global Logistics, Korea Post, and Logen Delivery, and to withdraw the general strike. Jin Kyung-ho, executive committee member of the Delivery Workers Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee, said, "While not everyone may be fully satisfied with the agreement, we see it as a significant progress," and added, "We thank the public for their support that made it possible to reach this point."