Fourteen S.Korean delivery workers die because of pandemic overwork - union

CJ Logistics

22/10/2020 12:28

By Ju-min Park
    SEOUL, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Fourteen delivery workers in South
Korea have died of overwork this year because they had to handle
a sharply higher volume of packages due to the coronavirus
pandemic, with the latest fatality this week, a union official
said. 
    A worker for CJ Logistics Corp  000120.KS  collapsed while
taking a short break late on Tuesday night and later died in
hospital, according to an official at the union representing
delivery workers.
    The dead also included one worker who committed suicide
after leaving a note about the harsh conditions he had toiled
in, the official said.
    One of the deaths was attributed to heart failure while the
causes of death for the rest were only described as 'kwarosa' by
the families, a Korean term used for sudden death due to heart
failure or a stroke as a result of extreme hard work. 
    CJ on Thursday issued a public apology over the deaths of
five of its workers, vowing to improve conditions for its
couriers. The country's top logistics firm with 20,000 delivery
workers said it was discussing compensation with the families. 
    "As the company's chief executive, I feel responsible for a
series of deaths of couriers and deeply apologise for causing
concerns to the people," CJ Logistics chief executive Park
Keun-hee told a news conference.
    The deaths triggered new public scrutiny on the complicated
employment structure and whether the companies failed to ensure
reasonable working conditions for the workers.
    Earlier this week, President Moon Jae-in called for an
overhaul of working conditions for delivery employees, saying
they have suffered some of the worst hardships under the
pandemic. 
    Smaller delivery company Hanjin Transportation  002320.KS 
also made a public apology this week over the death of a courier
and pledged to reduce the workload for its workers.
    CJ said it would add more workers and ensure all couriers
are signed up for industrial accident insurance.
    But most contracts signed by the workers are with
independent agents who act as middlemen, rather than with the
company itself, leaving them outside the protection of labour
law.
    Yoon Sung-goo, an agent for CJ, told Reuters he had agreed
to CJ's proposals to reduce workload of delivery workers and
would discuss details. 
    CJ Logistics is an affiliate of the country's food-to-retail
conglomerate CJ Group.

 (Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
 ((ju-min.park@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
ju-min.park.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))