<Anchor>
Yesterday (12th), the government came up with measures to prevent overwork of courier workers.
It contains a content that sets the working hours for a day and prevents delivery at all in the late hours, but reporter Hee-nam Kim pointed out the effectiveness of the countermeasures, how helpful it would be in the field.
<Reporter>
[This is a courier service.
Please open the door.]
I am a courier in my 40s who started delivery only at 1:30 pm.
Even though I went to work around 7 am, they said that they had to start shipping late because of the half-day or sorting process.
[Kim Do-gyun/Courier article: (Courier items) I came out with about 250 pieces.
I have to do about 400, but I haven't finished getting off.] Even after
sorting for about 6 hours,
I still haven't
paid a penny, and there are a lot of stocks, so it always ends after 10pm.
[Kim Do-gyun/Courier: If I had all 400 items loaded.
Then it's 12 o'clock (it's over.) (12 o'clock at night?) Yes.] On the
12th of last month, 27-year-old Jang Deok-jun, who died at home after finishing the night sorting work
at the Coupang
Distribution Center.
Deokjun, who was healthy in Taekwondo Certified 4th Dan, has been working at the Coupang Distribution Center since June last year.
In the meantime, I lost 15 kilograms of weight, and I experienced unprecedented knee and chest pain.
[Park Mi-sook / late Jang Deok-jun's mother: People who came to the funeral home often grabbed chest or complained of pain while working now.]
I checked the work log and worked 25 days a month at night, and all 7 days I have also worked 59 hours overnight.
Coupang claims to observe 52 hours a day, 5 days a week, but it was pushed into extreme conditions due to the continued nighttime work.
[Logistics Center Colleague: I think I'm going to die today." Then Deokjun also said,'Oh, it's too tight today.
I almost died too'...
.] The Korea
Labor Welfare Corporation recognizes that working more than 60 hours per week is overworked, but experts point out that the intensity of night work should be 1.5 times higher than that of daytime.
[Kim Seong-hee/Director of Industrial Labor Policy Research Institute: It adds much more stress and burden.
Late-night labor will incur a burden of at least 1.5 times more.] The
government's measures to improve unfair practices as a countermeasure are also skeptical in the field.
The subordinate reality is clearly revealed when we listen to the transcript of a courier agency obtained by the reporters.
[Dealership manager (Rozen Courier, Busan ○○ branch): If you don't raise your hand here and get caught by me from behind.
The contract is canceled on the spot that day...
]
If you don't agree with the fee cut, you'll be barred from working, and to the complaining driver, you'll quit if you don't like it.
[Courier Deliverer (Rozen Courier, Busan ○○ Branch): I can't believe our directors (delivery engineer).
But I will buy the branch.
It feels like that.]
[Agency manager (Rosen Express, Busan ○○ branch recording): You can go out.
Then you can go out.
Now ○○ Others are over, but it will always be like this.]
Usually, courier drivers who are special employees are not protected by the Labor Standards Act because they provide labor through contracts in the form of private businesses.
Workers' compensation insurance is also borne by the management half and half, but there are many cases that are not covered due to reasons or pressure.
Experts contend that overwork can be prevented by realizing the problem of shipping and low fees, which is one third of that of developed countries, and improving unfair contracts and working conditions.
[Kim Seong-hee/Director of the Institute for Industrial Labor Policy: Regulations related to industrial safety, regulations on working hours, and a system that can guarantee adequate income.
Even if a formal contract is a private business, it is necessary to create a rule that applies, but it can be a solution]
(Video coverage: Lee Chan-soo)