CJ Logistics Courier Death...Union Claims "Death from Overwork" vs Company "Distorts Facts"

On the 28th, delivery vehicles were parked at the CJ Logistics Seongnam Sujeong Terminal in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, as CJ Logistics delivery workers affiliated with the National Courier Labor Union launched an indefinite general strike to urge the implementation of a social agreement to prevent death from overwork. Among the approximately 20,000 CJ Logistics delivery workers, about 2,500 are union members, and around 1,700 union members with bargaining rights are expected to participate in this strike. They claim that CJ Logistics raised fees under the social agreement to prevent overwork deaths among delivery workers but did not use the additional profits to improve working conditions, demanding the withdrawal of the supplementary agreement to the standard contract, among other things. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Recently, there have been conflicting claims between the delivery workers' union and CJ Logistics regarding the death of a delivery driver affiliated with CJ Logistics. The union points to overwork caused by poor working conditions, while the company denies this as a distortion of facts.

On the 21st, the Delivery Workers Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee held a press conference in front of CJ Logistics headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, stating, "It has been one year since a social agreement was reached, but there have been a total of 25 overwork deaths, including 9 at CJ Logistics."

According to the committee, Mr. A collapsed at home around 5:30 a.m. on the 14th while preparing to go to work. His family found him and he was rushed to a nearby hospital emergency room, but he passed away two days later.

The committee claimed, "CJ Logistics does not employ sorting personnel from the start of sorting work at 7 a.m., but instead deploys them from 8 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. The agency operated sorting teams by pairing delivery workers in teams of two, and on the relevant day, the deceased came to work earlier than usual and was exhausted."

Additionally, the delivery workers' union asserted that the working environment at the terminal where the deceased worked was extremely poor. The union stated, "The deceased worked at a terminal located under a high bridge, with no facilities to withstand severe cold or heat. Due to low docking rates, the deceased could not park the vehicle on the rail and had to carry goods back and forth between the handcart and vehicles far from the rail."

The delivery workers' union emphasized, "Among the 25 delivery workers who died from overwork, 9 were affiliated with CJ Logistics. To prevent CJ Logistics from becoming a 'death company,' the company must stop hiding behind excuses, sincerely apologize to the public for delivery workers' overwork deaths, and take concrete measures."

CJ Logistics stated that it actively cooperates with related procedures when industrial accident claims are filed and provides support to the bereaved families as much as possible. However, the company denied the union's claims as distortions of fact.

In a statement released that day, the company said, "The deceased, who became a delivery driver 1 year and 3 months ago, was diagnosed with suspected arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, and diabetes during a health checkup in March, and health management programs including expert consultations and additional tests were underway. The deceased's daily delivery volume was 223 packages, which is 17% less than the average of 268 packages for delivery drivers at the same agency, and weekly working hours were around 55 hours." The company added, "We deeply regret the baseless distortions and irresponsible claims."

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