Boiling Rage at the String of Deaths of Couriers. NGO Claims, "Murder by Late Night Deliveries"

[경향신문]

“I’m So Tired.” The Last Words: Members of a group calling for measures to prevent the death of couriers from excessive workloads hold a press conference, holding a board with a message that Gim, a courier recently found dead, left to his colleague, in front of the Hanjin Logistics head office in Jung-gu, Seoul on October 19. Kim Ki-nam

A number of deaths of couriers has triggered more voices to demand improvements in the working environment in the logistics industry. The Ministry of Employment and Labor will conduct an emergency inspection of major logistics firms.

A group seeking measures to prevent deaths of couriers from an excessive workload held a press conference in front of the Hanjin Logistics head office in Jung-gu, Seoul on October 19 and said, “A courier who had no chronic diseases died at a young age. It was clearly and undeniably due to an overwhelming workload.” The group continued and said, “We strongly ask the government for drastic measures to prevent any more deaths of couriers.”

Earlier on October 12, Gim (36), who delivered parcels at the New Jeongneung Office of the Hanjin Logistics Dongdaemun branch, was found dead in his home. According to the group, Gim sent a text message to his colleague at around 4:28 a.m. on October 8 saying, “By the time I get home, it will be 5 in the morning. If I eat, wash and head straight to the terminal, I’ll have to start sorting the deliveries without a wink of sleep. I’m so tired.”

The group urged the government to come up with measures. In August, the labor ministry, the Korea Integrated Logistics Association and the four major logistics companies including Hanjin Logistics released a joint declaration to guarantee breaktime for couriers. This declaration included the sentence, “We will work to avoid deliveries late into the night,” but the group argued that the declaration turned out to be just for show. The group said, “Couriers are often known to make deliveries until midnight, but the fact that they made deliveries until four-thirty in the morning like the late Gim is simply shocking.” The group claimed that the death was “murder caused by gruesome late night deliveries.”

A group of citizens supporting the couriers, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the People’s Livelihood Economy Research Institute also held a press conference and demanded an investigation into the details of the death of overworked couriers.

This day, Labor Minister Lee Jae-kap held a meeting of the labor crisis management task force at the government office in Sejong and said, “We will conduct an emergency inspection of safety and health measures to prevent health problems including excessive workloads from October 21 until November 13 in four hundred agencies and forty major terminals of companies including CJ Logistics and Hanjin Logistics.”

The government will also interview over 6,000 couriers who have signed contracts with the agencies subject to the inspection.

According to the group seeking to resolve this issue, a total of twelve people involved in delivering goods died this year, and among them nine were couriers. On October 8, Gim Jong-won (48), a courier for CJ Logistics in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul died. On October 12, Jang, a twenty-something who helped package deliveries at the Coupang logistics center in Chilgok was found dead.