"Working Hours of Postal Workers Reassessed" Agreement Between Korea Post Headquarters and Labor Union

On the 2nd, postal workers who completed a safe driving pledge ceremony on Sejong-daero in Seoul are parading in micro electric vehicles. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] The Korea Post's labor and management have agreed to redesign the diagnostic system used to calculate postal workers' working hours. This agreement reflects their acknowledgment of criticisms that the system has led to the reassignment of postal workers rather than hiring additional staff, effectively pushing them into difficult situations. However, it is still undecided whether the 'Postal Workers' Union,' a multiple union and the main critic, will be involved in the system improvement process.

On the 7th, the headquarters and the representative labor union, the Korea Post Labor Union, held an emergency labor-management council and decided to jointly develop a new alternative to replace the currently operating 'Postal Work Intensity Diagnostic System.'

This system was created to calculate the necessary workforce and working hours by considering postal workers' delivery environment and workload. However, recently, the multiple union, the Postal Workers' Union, pointed out that the Korea Post has not increased staffing but only reassigned workers, which has intensified work demands. In response, the Korea Post's labor and management agreed to undertake improvement efforts.

Additionally, labor and management agreed to establish a staffing plan to fill shortages caused by retirements and other factors at post office counters and to proceed with the staffing process within this year. They also agreed to form a joint task force to prepare countermeasures for the expansion of electronic notifications, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's push for digital notification conversion, and to establish standards for labor union operation cost support in accordance with related legal amendments.

A headquarters official stated, "Labor and management at Korea Post will continue to jointly respond to the rapidly changing postal business environment, such as the continuous decline in general mail volume and the expansion of electronic notifications, and will continuously develop measures for mutual growth."

However, regarding whether the Postal Workers' Union will participate in the work to set postal workers' work intensity, the headquarters responded, "The bargaining group is the Korea Post Labor Union," adding, "there is no decision yet on the Postal Workers' Union's participation in the system improvement work."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.