Courier Union Claims 'CJ Passes Additional Staffing Costs to Agencies'... Company Says "Will Not Burden Drivers" (Comprehensive)

On the morning of the 24th of last month, representatives from organizations including the National Courier Solidarity Union and the Seoul Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions gathered in front of the Hanjin Delivery headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, urging "the conglomerate courier companies to take responsibility for the overwork-related deaths of courier workers and to immediately prepare measures to address this issue." [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] Claims have been raised that the costs related to pre-delivery sorting work, considered one of the causes of overwork among delivery workers, are being passed on to the delivery workers themselves.

The Delivery Workers Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee (Countermeasures Committee) held a press conference on the 5th at the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, stating, "CJ Logistics is deceiving the public and betraying delivery workers by shifting the burden of (sorting work) costs."

The Countermeasures Committee cited cases from various agencies nationwide, asserting that "CJ Logistics is unilaterally passing on the costs of sorting labor to agencies and delivery workers." According to the committee, CJ Logistics headquarters notified regional agencies last week that "the headquarters will support 50% of the additional costs, and the remaining 50% should be negotiated and handled within the agency."

The committee explained, "Agencies, having the cost burden shifted from the company, sometimes split the costs with delivery drivers in a 3 to 2 ratio or even pass the entire cost onto them." It was also confirmed that some agencies in Jeonnam and Gyeongnam regions have no plans to deploy sorting personnel at all.

The committee emphasized, "Although courier companies announced they would deploy sorting personnel starting this month, as of the 5th, no personnel deployment has taken place," adding, "The delay in personnel deployment is also closely related to the headquarters shifting the cost burden."

Earlier, CJ Logistics announced on the 22nd of last month, following a series of delivery worker deaths, that they would deploy 4,000 sorting support personnel to the delivery sites.

In response to the union's claims, CJ stated, "We are negotiating with agencies on the premise that the cost of sorting support personnel will be shared 50-50, with the ratio varying depending on the size and profitability of the agency," and added, "We will ensure that agencies do not pass the costs onto delivery drivers."

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