Over 4,000 Delivery Workers' Union Members Begin 2-Day Protest in Yeouido, Seoul

Urging Implementation of Social Consensus... "Classification Work is the Responsibility of Courier Companies"

The National Courier Workers' Union, which has been on strike for a week demanding measures to prevent overwork-related deaths among delivery workers, launched a large-scale rally on the 15th. Approximately 5,000 union members plan to continue the rally for 1 night and 2 days until the results of the second round of social agreement being held at the National Assembly are announced. The Courier Workers' Union is shouting slogans at Yeouido Park. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The one-night, two-day overnight protest by members of the National Courier Workers' Union (Courier Union) who traveled to Seoul has begun.

About 4,000 union members gathered from across the country started a one-night, two-day overnight protest at Yeouido Park in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, around 2 p.m. on the 15th, demanding measures to prevent death from overwork and the implementation of social agreements.

Participants shouted slogans such as "End the sorting work that kills workers" and "Wake up, the lying Korea Post and government," continuing the rally. They wore signs that read, "Courier companies must take responsibility and implement sorting work."

The rally was held in line with the resumption of the final meeting for the second social agreement. The Courier Union launched a full strike on the 9th after the second agreement on courier workers' overwork issues failed on the 8th.

The sit-in occupation of the lobby on the first floor of Post Tower by Korea Post courier workers has also been ongoing since the previous day.

The National Courier Workers' Union, which has been on strike for a week demanding measures to prevent overwork-related deaths among delivery workers, launched a large-scale rally on the 15th. About 5,000 union members plan to continue the rally for 1 night and 2 days until the results of the second round of social agreement being held at the National Assembly are announced. The Courier Workers' Union is shouting slogans at Yeouido Park.
Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

The social agreement body made a first agreement in January to prevent overwork among courier workers by excluding sorting work from the basic tasks of courier workers and requiring the company side to deploy dedicated personnel for sorting work.

Since then, the agreement body has continued discussions on the scale of sorting work personnel and solutions to the wage reduction issue caused by decreased working hours.

The police issued a dispersal order on the day, stating that the rally violated the Assembly and Demonstration Act and the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act. A clash occurred between the police and the union when the union briefly occupied the road to bring in rally equipment such as speakers into the park.

Before the rally, the union held a press conference in front of Post Tower, stating, "The core of solving the courier workers' overwork problem is sorting work," and argued, "Only by clearly assigning responsibility for sorting work to courier companies, not workers, can the path to liberation from long hours of unpaid labor be opened."

They added, "To stop death from overwork, above all, the government must strive to properly complete the social agreement," emphasizing, "The government must take responsible action to ensure the completion of the second social agreement."

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