The nationwide courier union will go on a general strike indefinitely from the 29th. As the union declared a general strike six days after a social agreement was reached with the courier in charge of sorting parcels, it seems likely that a disruption in parcel delivery will be inevitable, especially ahead of the Lunar New Year. However, the courier companies say that there will be no major confusion as the number of people participating in the general strike is about 0.5% of all courier drivers.
On the 27th, the parcel delivery union held a press conference in front of the headquarters of Hanjin Courier in Jung-gu, Seoul, and said, “As a result of the votes for and against the members of the general strike on the 20th and 21st, 97% of the union members voted and passed with 91% approval.” “Do it”. It is expected that 5,450 people including members of the National Federation of Korean Trade Unions (KCTU) will participate in this general strike. 2,800 members working at private couriers such as CJ Logistics, Lotte Courier, and Hanjin Courier participate in a general strike, and 2,650 members of the post office headquarters of the courier union refuse to deliver unless the postal division has sorted them out.
Mixed interpretation of social consensus of’classified manpower’
The national courier union held a press conference in front of the headquarters of Hanjin Courier in Jung-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 27th and announced that it will begin a general strike indefinitely from the 29th. yunhap news
This general strike was caused by mixed interpretations with the courier companies over the plan to put in a sorting manpower that agreed to a society. The social agreement stipulated that'(courier’s) put in the sorting manpower or pay the appropriate price’, but the labor and management are making different arguments. The union said, “The courier companies are clarifying that implementing the sorting manpower input plan that they announced last year was the content of this social agreement. “It is to pass the sorting work over to the courier worker.” On the other hand, the courier side said, “There is no content in the agreement to add more classification support personnel, and more discussions on how to perform the sorting process should be discussed in the future.”
The parcel delivery union is further demanding the input of sorting personnel and the conclusion of related labor-management agreements. The courier union demanded that “the representative of Woncheong courier and the union representative must meet face-to-face (definition of the classification work, who performs the work, and conclude a labor-management agreement).” However, the courier company is confronting that “the courier must sign an agreement with the agency that the courier has a contract with.” Currently, most of the courier drivers are in the status of private businesses, and are inadequate for courier companies to serve as representatives of the management because they are specially employed (special high schools) workers who sign consignment contracts with courier companies or agents.
There are two weeks left for the Lunar New Year holidays… Government’emergency’
On the afternoon of the afternoon of the 27th, when the courier union announced that it would enter into an indefinite general strike, courier workers are carrying out delivery work in an alley in Suwon city, Gyeonggi-do. News 1
Two weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday, the government declared an emergency. In particular, during the Lunar New Year period this year, the volume is expected to increase by 40%. It is about twice as much as the increase in the volume of transportation on the past holidays. This year’s new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) led to an increase in non-face-to-face transactions, resulting in a larger volume increase. An official from the delivery company said, “Every holiday, we increase delivery vehicles and short-term manpower by 10-15%, but this year, it is not enough to deal with the increase in cargo volume.”
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is planning to put in 6,000 sorting support personnel (4,000 for CJ Logistics and 1,000 for Lotte and Hanjin each), which was originally scheduled to be used in the first quarter of this year. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs also announced that it would add an average of about 5,000 people per day (three companies and Rosen and Coupang combined), including sorting personnel and sub-terminal loading and unloading personnel during the Lunar New Year period. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has already responded by designating a special management period from the 25th to the 20th of the following month in preparation for the concentration of New Year’s parcel delivery.
The courier companies predicted that “there will not be a courier disruption that is concerned about the union’s general strike.” The reason is that there are about 50,000 courier drivers alone in private courier companies, and the impact will not be great as the number of strikers is less than 0.5%. An official from a courier said, “There were large and small strikes ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays every year, but delivery was carried out without major disruption due to the input of employees at the head office,” he said. “Delivery delays in some areas are inevitable, but it will not be as much as a courier disruption.”
Reporter Chu In-young [email protected]