CJ Logistics Strike Enters 20th Day... Growing Concerns Over Lunar New Year Delivery Crisis

The National Courier Workers' Union Post Office Struggle Headquarters held a rally on the 10th near the Blue House in Jongno-gu, Seoul, urging the implementation of social agreements. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] On the 16th, the strike by the CJ Logistics headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ National Courier Workers' Union (Courier Union) entered its 20th day, raising growing concerns about a courier crisis ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

The government will begin its annual special courier management starting from the 17th, ahead of the Lunar New Year peak season. The plan is to deploy personnel as efficiently as possible to prevent a courier crisis during the holiday.

Earlier, the Courier Union went on strike on the 28th of last month, claiming that CJ Logistics has not fairly distributed the increased courier fees?raised according to a social agreement made to prevent overwork deaths among courier workers?to the delivery workers.

The union, after failing to initiate labor-management talks as they demanded, has raised pressure by demanding all courier companies stop accepting deliveries starting from the 18th and by planning to gather all union members in Seoul for a rally. The Courier Union is also urging the government and ruling party to actively intervene to resolve the situation before the Lunar New Year.

Regarding this strike, the government stated, "The social agreement was made because courier work became a social issue requiring government intervention; fundamentally, labor disputes should be resolved between labor and management," indicating that government intervention is impossible and that there are no plans to introduce separate measures.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to deploy an additional 10,000 personnel during this special management period and expects that, since autonomous delivery volume distribution among companies is taking place, a crisis like a holiday delivery disaster will not occur.

However, delivery disruptions continue mainly in some branches in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Daegu, and Busan, where many union members are participating in the strike. Although the volume of delayed deliveries has recently decreased to 200,000?half of what it was at the beginning of the strike?some consumers still have not received their goods for nearly two weeks.

With courier volumes surging from this week due to the Lunar New Year holiday, there is a possibility that the situation could worsen.

Concerns are emerging that the strike’s impact may spread to other courier companies, as the Korea Post recently suspended contract parcel acceptance in some areas of the Gyeongin, Busan, and Chungcheong regions, where many CJ Logistics strike participants are located.