"Year-End Delivery Crisis Again?" Parcel Workers' Union Total Strike... Citizens 'Anxiously Waiting'

Citizens Fear 'Parcel Delivery Crisis' Ahead of Year-End
"Fairly Distribute Excess Profits from Parcel Fee Increase"
Some Parcel Agencies in Busan and Others Already Halt Parcel Acceptance

On the 28th, delivery volumes piled up at the CJ Logistics Seongnam Terminal in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, as CJ Logistics delivery drivers affiliated with the National Courier Workers' Union launched an indefinite general strike to urge the implementation of a social agreement to prevent death from overwork. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] As the delivery workers' union has launched a general strike, concerns among citizens are growing over a potential delivery crisis during the year-end and New Year holidays.

The National Delivery Workers' Union CJ Logistics Headquarters began an indefinite general strike on the 28th to urge the implementation of a social agreement aimed at preventing overwork-related deaths among delivery workers. This general strike is the fourth full-scale strike this year, following those in January, June, and October. During the first strike ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, a full strike lasted for nine days. In the third strike last October, ahead of Chuseok, the strike was called off after the government and management reached an agreement due to concerns over a delivery crisis.

On the day of the strike, the delivery workers' union held a press conference at the CJ Logistics Seongnam Terminal in Gyeonggi Province, stating, "Last year and this year, 21 delivery workers left us due to overwork caused by long working hours," and added, "However, the management is scheming to exploit this pain for profit."

They demanded that the management fairly distribute the excess profits generated from the increase in delivery fees. The delivery workers' union urged, "The company raised delivery fees by 170 KRW per box in April for corporate customers, and if an additional 100 KRW increase is implemented next year, the company will gain over 300 billion KRW in excess profits, which must be fairly distributed." The delivery fee increase was part of a social agreement established in April to prevent overwork-related deaths among delivery workers.

Due to this strike, citizens are concerned about potential disruptions in delivery services. It is expected that about 1,700 union members with bargaining rights among approximately 20,000 CJ Logistics delivery drivers will participate in the strike.

This has drawn criticism from the business community. On the 27th, the Korea Employers Federation issued a statement rebutting the union's claim that CJ Logistics violated the social agreement and gained excessive profits through fee increases, stating, "This claim is not true, and each delivery company is faithfully investing costs according to the social agreement."

Furthermore, CJ Logistics clarified that the increased delivery fee is 140 KRW, not 170 KRW, and regardless of the increase, about 55% of the total delivery fee goes to the delivery drivers. They also countered that the standard contract includes a 'work effort within 60 hours per week' clause, and deliveries on Saturdays exceeding this time do not occur.

On the 28th, CJ Logistics delivery workers affiliated with the National Courier Workers' Union held a send-off rally for the indefinite general strike at the CJ Logistics Seongnam Terminal in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, urging the implementation of a social agreement to prevent death from overwork. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Citizens are worried about a delivery crisis. CJ Logistics holds about a 50% market share in the domestic delivery market, making it the top company. Particularly, in some regions such as Changwon, Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, and Ulsan, where union membership rates are high, concerns about delivery disruptions are emerging.

Some agencies have already stopped accepting delivery items. The CJ Logistics Delivery Agency Federation decided to suspend the acceptance of delivery items starting from 7 a.m. on the 29th at some agencies mainly in Gwangju-si and Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, as well as in Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, Changwon, and Gwangju.

Meanwhile, the issue of overwork-related deaths among delivery workers has been a major controversy this year. On June 13th in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, delivery driver Lim (47), affiliated with Lotte Delivery, collapsed due to a cerebral hemorrhage and fell into an unconscious state. He was known to deliver about 6,000 items per month, working six days a week and often going to work after sleeping only two hours a day.

Regarding this, the Lotte Delivery union argued that excessive working hours were the cause, while the management denied any relation to the working environment or hours.