Temporary Agreement Reached Between Ubon and Courier Union... Concerns Over Strike Chaos '↓'

Postal Service Delivery Workers' Union members are holding a general resolution rally for postal delivery workers on the 13th at Sejong-daero, Gwanghwamun, Seoul. They claimed, "The contract proposed by the Korea Post Headquarters is a wage reduction contract and a slave contract that specifies easy dismissal." Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] The Post Office Courier Union has withdrawn the strike it had announced after reaching an agreement with the Korea Post. However, the unions of CJ Logistics and Hanjin Express are still continuing strikes in some areas.

According to the logistics industry on the 18th, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) Korea Post announced that it had reached a tentative agreement with the Post Office branch of the Courier Union the previous day.

Earlier, the National Courier Union Post Office branch had announced a warning strike for that day. However, both labor and management recognized the inconvenience caused to the public and made mutual concessions to narrow their differences, leading to the withdrawal of the warning strike. Korea Post and the Post Office branch of the Courier Union mutually reaffirmed the tentative agreement on the fee increase plan and agreed to secure the budget for a 3% increase this year and another 3% increase next year.

They also agreed to clarify contract terms, including establishing termination procedures for unfair practices. Specifically, they will detail the contract termination process and set up a clarification procedure for parcel delivery agents to raise objections.

Meanwhile, other courier companies have also entered partial strikes. The Hanjin branch of the National Courier Labor Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Service Federation has been conducting partial strikes in some areas such as Gangdong-gu in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Ulsan since the 4th, demanding practical measures to address the reduced volume from Coupang.

At the same time, the CJ Logistics branch is conducting partial strikes by holding protest rallies every Monday. They claim that frontline agencies are forcibly terminating contracts with union members and refusing to draft standard contracts.