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Seoul, South Korea – Within the frigid South Korean winter, a gaggle of logistics staff is gathering across the clock with the purpose of ending work-related deaths.
For greater than 50 days, staff have occupied the headquarters of CJ Logistics in central Seoul, calling on administration to carry talks and honour the phrases of an settlement reached final yr to ease the gruelling working circumstances of supply drivers.
On a current evening, a gaggle of monks led a gaggle prayer from behind a makeshift altar whereas staff holding candles sat cross-legged in rows on the asphalt floor.
“Drivers have died, and the scenario is determined. We really feel like we now have no choice however to battle like this,” Nam Hee-jeong, a Seoul-based supply driver and union organiser, instructed Al Jazeera on the sidelines of the gathering.
“The corporate is refusing to speak to us, so we’re out right here struggling. We’ll be right here till we will clear up this,” Nam mentioned.
Supply drivers’ working circumstances have been a problem of appreciable public curiosity in South Korea in recent times, following a number of office deaths involving cardiovascular illnesses that labour teams attributed to the stress of spending lengthy hours loading and delivering packages.
These deaths happened as many supply drivers labored upwards of 12 hours a day as parcel volumes spiked in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, throughout which South Koreans have bought extra items on-line. Alongside the upper quantity, got here elevated competitors from newcomers like Coupang, an e-commerce big typically described as South Korea’s reply to Amazon for its speedy supply of a broad vary of products.
That stiffer competitors meant drivers needed to work more durable at the same time as costs per supply stagnated or declined. Drivers for a number of the trade’s largest corporations, together with CJ Logistics, are usually not workers however impartial contractors who’re paid per supply.
Tensions surrounding the protest spiked on Tuesday when hanging staff tried to disrupt visitors outdoors of a logistics centre south of Seoul.
The union-led motion might backfire if legislation enforcement deems such acts unlawful, mentioned Kim Sang-kyum, a professor on the Dongguk College School of Legislation. “If public authorities see unlawful actions and reply passively, that would undermine the rule of legislation,” Kim instructed Al Jazeera.
The general public curiosity and tensions within the trade abated final yr when staff and administration reached a government-mediated settlement to enhance working circumstances. CJ staff say they’re braving the winter chilly as a result of the corporate has failed to stick to the phrases of that deal.
Whereas there have been no current deaths attributed to gwarosa – actually “dying by overwork” – the CJ staff say circumstances haven’t improved and Jin Kyung-ho, a union chief, has pledged to go on starvation strike, refusing even water and salt, till CJ administration agrees to carry talks. Employees are additionally calling on the corporate to direct extra of the income generated by a current value improve to staff.
Al Jazeera has contacted CJ Logistics in search of remark.
South Koreans will go to the polls to elect a brand new president on March 9, and fixing the problem of harsh working circumstances within the logistics sector will probably be one in every of many challenges the winner will face.
The race is successfully a two-candidate contest between Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Get together and Yoon Seok-yul, a former prosecutor, representing the opposition Individuals Energy Get together.
Within the run-up to the election, each foremost candidates have pledged beneficiant fiscal spending to help impartial retailers and different teams whose fortunes have waned throughout the pandemic.
However the two candidates differ markedly of their feedback on the query of supply drivers’ conflicts with administration. Lee, who has a bootstrapping private story of getting been born to a poor household and carried out handbook labour in his youth earlier than finding out to turn into a lawyer, has received endorsements from each of the nation’s main umbrella labour unions.
Lee has a historical past of talking out on behalf of staff, and oversaw a community of help centres for supply drivers in his earlier job as governor of South Korea’s most populous province.
The left-leaning candidate has pledged to enact a legislation guaranteeing the labour rights of impartial staff, freelancers, and tech staff — lots of whom are usually not protected underneath present South Korean labour legislation. Such a promise could possibly be significantly interesting to logistics staff, who, as contractors, typically wouldn’t have protections like medical insurance, minimal wage or authorized limits on their working hours.
Alternatively, conservative candidate Yoon has earned the ire of staff with feedback some interpreted as insensitive. In a single well-known instance, whereas decrying the federal government’s determination to restrict the workweek to 52 hours, Yoon mentioned staff ought to be capable of work as much as 120 hours in the event that they select, spurring accusations that he was out of contact with working individuals’s actuality.
Extra just lately, when requested in regards to the CJ staff’ strike, Yoon mentioned staff and administration ought to resolve their battle with out authorities involvement. Organisers representing CJ staff interpreted Yoon’s remark as implying that he wouldn’t help hanging staff if elected.
A step in the direction of an answer
As a primary step in the direction of an answer, the civic teams and authorities officers that reached final yr’s settlement ought to reconvene to work out an authoritative interpretation of how you can implement the phrases, mentioned Park Ji-soon, a professor of social safety legislation at Korea College.
Employees and administration also needs to work out a extra everlasting discussion board to speak and resolve issues like how you can distribute the income generated by value will increase, Park mentioned.
“There’s a recognised want for collective bargaining by staff within the courier trade,” Park instructed Al Jazeera, “significantly a collective bargaining system that’s appropriate to the particular wants of these staff.”
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