Assembly at CJ Seongnam Terminal at 11 AM
Delivery Disruptions in Some Areas Including Changwon and Seongnam
On the 20th, in front of the CJ Logistics headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, members of the National Courier Workers' Union and civic groups held a press conference urging courier companies to designate apartments where abusive delivery practices are prohibited./Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The CJ Logistics branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) National Courier Workers' Union will begin an indefinite general strike starting on the 28th, demanding the implementation of a social agreement to prevent overwork-related deaths among courier workers. Some delivery disruptions are expected, especially in areas with high union membership such as Changwon, Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, and Ulsan.
According to the industry on the 28th, the CJ Logistics branch of the Courier Workers' Union will hold a press conference and rally at 11 a.m. at the CJ Logistics Seongnam Terminal in Gyeonggi Province to announce the start of the general strike. Earlier, on the 23rd, the union decided on the strike with a 93.6% approval rate in a strike vote.
There are about 20,000 CJ Logistics courier drivers, of whom approximately 1,700 union members with the right to strike are expected to participate. Union members without strike rights and non-union supporters will indirectly participate by refusing to deliver shipments that fall outside CJ Logistics' own product regulations.
The Courier Workers' Union stated, "CJ Logistics is exploiting the issue of courier workers' overwork-related deaths for profit," and demanded, "Fairly distribute the 300 billion KRW in excess profits earned from the recent delivery fee increase." They explained that the increased fees, raised according to the social agreement to prevent overwork-related deaths, are being pocketed as additional profits by the company.
Since union members with strike rights account for about 8.5% of all CJ Logistics delivery drivers, the possibility of a nationwide 'delivery crisis' is considered low, but delivery disruptions are expected in some areas such as Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province and Ulsan.
However, if the strike prolongs, the impact could spread to other regions during the peak delivery season at the end of the year and New Year.
CJ Logistics plans to respond by monitoring the strike situation and implementing measures such as limiting invoice printing or dispatching directly employed delivery drivers. Some shopping malls are notifying customers of possible delivery delays due to the strike or temporarily redirecting shipments to other courier companies like the post office as countermeasures.
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