On the 27th, in front of the headquarters of Hanjin Courier in Jung-gu, Seoul, the nationwide courier union declares a general strike. On the 21st, the labor and the government reached a social agreement to prevent overwork in parcel delivery, but the couriers did not observe this, and they announced that they would start a general strike indefinitely from the 29th. yunhap news
The National Federation of Trade Unions, the National Courier Union, has announced an indefinite general strike from the 29th. On the 21st, the labor and management confronted again six days after the labor and management signed the’Social Consensus Organization for Countermeasures against Overworked Delivery Workers’. The spirit of consensus is everywhere.
Although the courier union made a social consensus that regulated parcel sorting as the responsibility of the company, it was agreed that the management only put in the amount of sorting workforce announced in October last year (4,000 for CJ Logistics and 1,000 for Lotte and Hanjin Express). Insisted that it be destroyed. However, it is a position that it is not a breach of the agreement because the courier companies are increasing the number of sorting personnel.
Although the agreement has been opened, there is no deadline for how long the management will increase the number of classification personnel. The courier company, the original petitioner, is not responding to labor-management negotiations on sorting work with the courier union. The management does not seem to want to set a precedent for negotiating with those who are employed in special employment.
In addition, the union claimed that the courier companies gave each branch and branch a guideline stating that’the sorting work is as it is.’ However, the physical evidence has not been presented. The courier confronted that it had never given such instructions.
The agreement limits working hours to 60 hours per week for courier operators. If courier companies take sorting work, there is a fear that the workforce may be reduced and shipping fees may be reduced. Because of this, there are many courier drivers on site who are worried that the cost of living will be reduced due to the labor-management agreement. This background is interpreted as the hidden reason why the union leadership pulled out the general strike card.
In the end, it is an attempt to silence internal criticisms related to social consensus and increase external bargaining power. It is the citizens who are facing the beginning of the year that are suffering from the repeated confrontation between the courier labor and management. The union’s demand for further negotiations to implement social consensus is justified, but I hope to persuade the other party with fact-based arguments. The management should also look for a solution by reminiscent of the spirit of social consensus that it should not mass-produce more overworked courier drivers.
Kim Cheong-hwan reporter [email protected]
