Agreement ink not even dry... Delivery Workers' Union and Agency Alliance tense again

Courier Union "Breach of Agreement" Hunger Strike
Federation "If Not Withdrawn, Will Suspend Measures to Resolve Issue"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The CJ Logistics Delivery Workers' Union and the Agency Alliance are in conflict just two weeks after reaching an agreement that ended a four-month-long general strike.

The Agency Alliance announced that if the delivery workers' union does not withdraw its hunger strike by the 4th, it will halt the measures taken so far to normalize services. The Agency Alliance stated, "We urge restraint in industrial action and full efforts to restore services based on the spirit of the agreement," adding, "The union's aggressive struggle makes resolving the issue even more difficult."

The delivery workers' union is also taking a hard stance. Yoo Sung-wook, head of the CJ Logistics branch of the delivery workers' union, said, "On the 6th, we will carry out a warning strike targeting the agencies for one day," and added, "If the problem is not resolved, strikes will continue on the 10th, 11th, and 12th." Since the 2nd, Yoo and others have been conducting a hunger strike in front of CJ Logistics headquarters, demanding the primary contractor resolve the conflict between delivery workers and agencies.

Both sides signed a supplementary agreement to the standard contract on the 18th of last month. This agreement came four months after the strike that lasted from December last year to March ended. At that time, both parties agreed on six-day-a-week delivery as the principle and decided to conduct a pilot project for five-day-a-week delivery. The time for delivery workers to load parcels into vehicles was also limited to three hours per day, and both sides agreed to cooperate for a swift normalization of services.

The delivery workers' union currently claims that "the agencies are not implementing the agreement as promised." Yoo stated, "Seventeen union members from four agencies still have not returned to work," and added, "While the primary contractor respects our agreement and is working to normalize services, the agencies are being obstinate and trying to suppress the workers."

Kang Yoon-hwang, affiliated with the Ulsan Sinbeomseo agency, said, "After the general strike, I returned to the workplace, but the relationship with the agency had deteriorated, and all six delivery workers belonging to the union at Ulsan Sinbeomseo agency failed to renew their contracts," adding, "Currently, I live with my wife and two sons, four people in total, and life is difficult."

The Agency Alliance rebutted, saying, "For delivery workers to secure the right to strike, they must negotiate with the agencies and go through mediation by the local labor relations commission," and added, "The union members who have not been contracted now participated in an illegal strike by refusing the agencies' legitimate requests to return to work." They also stated that they cannot interfere with the management rights of each agency.

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