Working 6 Days a Week, Sleeping Only 2 Hours a Day Before Work... Delivery Worker Collapses from Cerebral Hemorrhage, Unconscious

On the afternoon of the 11th, Jin Kyung-ho, chairman of the National Courier Union, held a "Press Conference Condemning the Social Agreement Forcing Unreasonable Volume Reduction" at the National Federation of Service Industry Unions in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, and spoke about the problems of the currently submitted social agreement. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Park] A delivery worker suffering from long working hours, including six-day workweeks, collapsed due to a cerebral hemorrhage and fell into an unconscious state. The Delivery Workers' Union (Delivery Union) has been on a general strike since the 9th, demanding measures to prevent worker deaths from overwork.

The Delivery Workers' Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee announced on the 13th that union member Im Mo (47), affiliated with Lotte Delivery Seongnam Unjung branch, collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage while sleeping at home and is currently unconscious.

According to the committee, Im's spouse called 119 around 4:30 a.m. after noticing Im showing abnormal symptoms such as twisting his body while sleeping at home.

Im was transported to Bundang CHA Hospital and underwent surgery around 7 a.m., but due to multiple cerebral hemorrhages, he has not regained consciousness.

Im, who has worked at Lotte Delivery for over two years, joined the union earlier this year. Before joining the union, Im worked from 7 a.m. until midnight or 3 a.m. After joining, he worked from 7 a.m. and left work between 11 p.m. and midnight.

The committee claimed that Im often said he was "tired," worked six days a week, and frequently slept only two hours a day. The delivery volume Im handled reached about 250 packages per day and 6,000 per month.

The committee stated, "Based on the pre-union joining period, he worked 15.5 hours a day and an average of 93 hours per week," adding, "Even after joining the union, he worked over 80 hours per week, which is an extremely long working time."

They urged, "The issue of delivery workers dying from overwork is still ongoing," and called on Lotte Delivery to immediately apologize to the overworked delivery worker and his family and to promptly engage in social agreements and collective bargaining."

Earlier, on the 22nd of last month, a delivery worker in his 40s, Seo Mo, who was suffering from 12-hour workdays, collapsed at a general hospital in Seoul where he had gone for a COVID-19 test.