[Delivery Union Above the Law] 'Trick Rally' Riding the Presidential Election... No Way to Stop It

Progressive Party Candidate Launch Rally at Strike Site
Combined with Campaigning, Avoiding Quarantine Guidelines
Union Announces Large-Scale Struggle on 21st

On the 50th day of the strike by the CJ Logistics Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Delivery Workers' Union, Jin Kyung-ho, the union chairman, is speaking in front of the CJ Logistics headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 15th. Behind him is the campaign vehicle of Kim Jae-yeon, the presidential candidate of the Progressive Party. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The CJ Logistics headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ National Courier Workers’ Union (Courier Union) has been holding a sit-in protest at the company’s headquarters for a week, and an unprecedented rally using an election campaign vehicle has followed. While the courier industry and CJ Logistics have strongly criticized the rally as a ‘cunning assembly,’ the union insists it is a legitimate act and refuses to back down. In particular, the Courier Union has announced a large-scale struggle on the 21st involving union members from other courier companies, deepening the conflict.

According to the courier industry on the 17th, on the 15th, a campaign kickoff event for Jinbo Party presidential candidate Kim Jae-yeon was held in front of the CJ Logistics headquarters where the Courier Union is conducting its sit-in protest. The Courier Union has been on strike since December 28 last year, continuing for 52 days, and began the sit-in protest at the headquarters on the 10th of this month.

The issue is that the Courier Union’s rally cleverly circumvented quarantine guidelines by combining with the presidential election campaign. The rally was conducted in the form of candidate Kim’s election campaign, allowing about 700 union members to participate, exceeding the assembly and demonstration limit of 299 people set by the quarantine guidelines. According to the guidelines, there is no limit on the number of participants in election campaigns. Candidate Kim supported the Courier Union rally with one election campaign vehicle, and some union members, including Jin Kyung-ho, the Courier Union chairman, wore badges labeled ‘election staff’ while participating in the rally.

The Courier Union announced that from that day, it would begin an ‘indefinite struggle in Seoul’ in front of the headquarters. They intend to increase the number of participants to several thousand, but even in that case, the rally can proceed with just one election campaign vehicle.

Although there are criticisms calling it a ‘cunning rally,’ there is no proper way to stop it. In fact, police were dispatched to the rally that day and recommended dispersal, but they could not disperse the rally due to the union’s claim that it was an election campaign, and some police forces even withdrew. A representative from the National Election Commission said, “Election campaigning through campaign vehicles allows speeches by campaign workers even without the candidate present,” and “Anyone registered as a campaign worker with the Election Commission can speak from the podium.”

The Courier Union has announced that on the 21st, it will hold a National Courier Workers’ Rally with union members from not only CJ Logistics but also the Korea Post, Lotte Courier, Hanjin Courier, and Logen Courier, raising the level of struggle. Considering that election campaigning is allowed until the day before the presidential election on the 8th of next month, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., this means unlimited rallies can be held daily until the day before the election.

CJ Logistics employees, suddenly deprived of their workplace, have expressed bewilderment. One employee said, “I cannot handle work in the office, so I am wandering around cafes and other places,” and added, “It is a bleak situation as I have no idea whether large-scale rallies will continue until the day before the presidential election.”

Criticism is also mounting that the government is standing idly by regarding the union’s ‘cunning rally.’ Currently, the Ministry of Employment and Labor has not made a judgment to classify the headquarters sit-in as an illegal dispute. There is a disagreement between the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Central Labor Relations Commission over whether the employer is the CJ Logistics headquarters currently occupied or the agency. The police say they can intervene only if the sit-in is classified as an illegal dispute and are taking a wait-and-see stance. A courier industry official said, “The government is not showing a clear position due to the presidential election,” and “The political circles are also not taking a stance because they are conscious of election votes, making the situation even more frustrating.”

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