Courier Industry Faces Another Strike Threat... Union Says "Severe Shortage of Sorting Staff"

Officials from the Task Force on Overwork Deaths of Delivery Workers held a press conference on the afternoon of the 26th at the National Service Industry Union Federation in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, stating that delivery workers are facing a situation where they will be assigned to sorting tasks as before, and urging delivery companies to fulfill their social agreement commitments. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The delivery workers' labor union and companies, who reached the first social agreement on improving the working conditions of delivery workers, are once again at a crossroads of conflict.

The Delivery Workers Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee (Countermeasures Committee) held an emergency press conference on the afternoon of the 26th at the large conference room of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Service Federation in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, stating, "Delivery companies are breaking the social agreement, forcing delivery workers back into long hours of sorting work." The committee said, "We urgently convened the Central Executive Committee today to make a serious decision," adding, "What happens next is up to the delivery companies." They hinted at a total strike before the Lunar New Year holiday.

The committee argued that, according to the social agreement, delivery companies such as CJ Logistics, Hanjin, and Lotte Global Logistics must take 100% responsibility for sorting work. Currently, the delivery industry has deployed 6,000 sorting personnel (CJ Logistics 4,000, Hanjin 1,000, Lotte 1,000), but the delivery union claims this is far from sufficient.

On the 26th, at the CJ Logistics Gwanak Subterminal in Gasan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, receiving support personnel are receiving parcel items automatically sorted by the wheel sorter. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The committee stated, "The current 6,000 personnel represent only about 30% of the total required sorting workforce," and emphasized, "Necessary personnel must be deployed to all agencies."

The social agreement body to prevent delivery workers' overwork deaths reached an agreement on the 21st regarding the responsibility of delivery companies to deploy sorting personnel. The agreement included practical overwork prevention measures such as ▲clarification of delivery sorting work ▲scope of delivery workers' tasks and deployment of dedicated sorting personnel ▲fees when delivery workers perform 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.

Subsequently, the committee discovered issues during the social agreement monitoring process, such as some agencies not deploying sorting personnel. The committee emphasized, "It has been less than five days since the social agreement was announced," and added, "During the Lunar New Year peak season, delivery workers have to do long hours of sorting work again. Nothing has changed."