Concerns Over Lunar New Year Delivery Crisis... Religious and Civic Groups Urge "Courier Industry to Implement Social Agreement"

Religious and Civil Society Organizations Hold Press Conference to Announce Position on Implementing Social Agreement for Parcel Delivery and Preventing Parcel Delivery Crisis During Lunar New Year./Photo by Kim Young-won, Junior Reporter

[Asia Economy Reporters Ok Gyumin and Kim Youngwon] Religious and civic organizations have urged the delivery industry to implement the social agreement and engage in meaningful dialogue to prevent a delivery crisis during the Lunar New Year holiday.

On the 24th at 1 p.m., over 60 civic and religious organizations, including People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Catholic Human Rights Committee, held a press conference at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, stating, "A solution is needed to ensure the implementation of the delivery social agreement and to prevent a delivery crisis during the Lunar New Year."

They said, "As of today (the 24th), the delivery workers’ union strike has entered its 28th day, and the hunger strike protest its 19th day," adding, "With the holiday approaching, the parties involved in the social agreement must step forward to check whether delivery companies are fulfilling the social agreement and resolve the conflict."

The religious and civic groups called for ▲ CJ Logistics and the delivery workers’ union to participate in substantive dialogue ▲ the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to conduct implementation inspections of the social agreement ▲ and the Democratic Party, which brokered the social agreement, to make mediation efforts to resolve the conflict between CJ Logistics and delivery workers.

There were also calls for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the competent authority, to thoroughly verify the conflicting claims of labor and management. Park Seokwoon, co-representative of the Delivery Workers’ Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee, criticized the Ministry’s first on-site inspection results of the social agreement implementation announced that day, saying, "The Ministry’s investigation was conducted on only 25 delivery terminals out of thousands nationwide, making it a 'tourist inspection,'" and added, "A transparent inspection method is necessary."

Religious organizations emphasized the need to implement the social agreement for coexistence and happiness. Jeong Taehyo, chairman of the National Mokjeongpyeong Labor Committee, said, "To walk the path of coexistence, we must shift our perspective to focus on delivery workers." Father Kang Hyunwoo of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul’s Ministry for the Poor argued, "The social agreement must be implemented to ensure safe and beautiful delivery work where everyone can be happy."

Earlier, the CJ Logistics branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ National Delivery Workers’ Union began a general strike on the 28th of last month, demanding the company fulfill the social agreement. On the 7th of the same month, 11 delivery workers began a hunger strike protest in front of CJ Group’s headquarters. They claim that although the company raised fees to improve parcel sorting work and workers’ treatment, most of the increased fees are being taken as company profits.