{"id":17590,"date":"2020-11-14T15:43:41","date_gmt":"2020-11-14T07:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=17590"},"modified":"2021-06-23T15:24:49","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T07:24:49","slug":"unbearable-pressure-of-parcels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2020\/11\/unbearable-pressure-of-parcels\/","title":{"rendered":"Unbearable Pressure of Parcels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rise of online shopping during the pandemic has made couriers in South Korea overwork. The unbearable pressure of parcels is pushing them into a corner.
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By Soweon Park in Seoul<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have to deliver 300 parcels a day. I cannot work without taking muscle relaxer,\u201d Lee Hyeong-goo says. The 55-year-old courier in South Korea has been working in delivery service for two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More and more consumers are shopping online for daily necessities and food such as sanitisers, bottles water or fresh sushi and have them delivered to their doorsteps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy daily workload jumped by 30 per cent,\u201d Lee says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average daily working hour of courier stretched to 14 hours a day during the pandemic, as people are urged to practice social distancing, and many are working from home. \u201cMost couriers including me work for more than 12 hours a day these days,\u201d Lee says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee\u2019s daily work starts at 7 a.m., loading up a truck with parcels to be delivered. At 12 p.m., he starts dispatching parcels to consumers. It is already 9 p.m. when he can finally go home after all parcels are delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Couriers\u2019 daily work starts with loading up a truck with parcels to be delivered.
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\u201cMy whole body is in pain every night. It strains my leg to deliver heavy parcels where there\u2019s no lift (at some locations),\u201d Lee says. Despite of the heavy workload, most couriers do not have any day off. They can only rest on Sundays and public holidays. \u201cWe don\u2019t even have time to eat lunch or dinner. I sometimes grab some snacks from convenient stores and eat in my truck when I\u2019m extremely hungry,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Day Off in Nearly Three Decades<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A labour union of delivery workers demanded logistic firms to offer an official holiday for couriers. Four major logistic companies in South Korea \u2013 CJ Logistics, Hanjin Express, Lotte Global and Logen \u2013 and Post office finally designated August 14 as \u2018No Parcel Day,\u2019 amid surging workload in the wake of the COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time in 28 years since delivery service was introduced in South Korea, delivery workers were allowed to take a day off on August 14 \u2013 Friday. The government and the firms will also make August 14 a rest day for couriers every year. \u201cWith the Liberation Day on August 15, we all had three days off for the first time. I did nothing during the long weekend and just stayed at home and let my exhausted body rest,\u201d Lee says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the Liberation Day on August 15, couriers took three-days holiday.
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Consumers also support couriers for having their first official holiday, uploading #it\u2019s_okay_to_be_late on their social media. President Moon Jae-in also posted \u2018No Parcel Day\u2019 on his twitter on July 18, 2020. \u201cWe should keep hard working couriers who are taking the leading role in overcoming the COVID-19 in our minds,\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Death from Overwork<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parcel service is very labour intensive starting from sorting parcels to actual deliveries and requires physical labour. Some workers died from overwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total number of couriers reportedly died from overwork is 18 in the past eight years. In the wake of surging delivery service demand this year, the number of couriers who are believed to have died from overwork this year alone is eight with the latest tragedy reported on October 8, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heart-breaking to see young couriers dying from overwork. I\u2019m afraid that I could be next too,\u201d Lee says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heart-breaking to see young couriers dying from overwork. I\u2019m afraid that I could be next too.\u201d <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Kim Se-kyoo, who is in charge of education and promotion of the labour union of delivery workers says most of the death cases did not have record of suffering from chronic diseases and they worked for more than 14 hours a day before they died. For the latest death case, the concerned delivery worker had to deliver 400 parcels a day. \u201cWe believe there are cases that are not made public,\u201d Kim says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The labour union is worried delivery workers will have heavier workload in the coming months because shipping volume reaches the peak between September to November every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a bid to prevent workers dying from overwork, the labour union is demanding logistic companies to hire supplementary workers for doing parcel classification which is a long and tough process before actual deliveries are made. In the long run, the labour union is planning to discuss with the government about introducing legislation to address the issue of long working hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Couriers at the Blind Spot in Law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the labour union of delivery workers, the average weekly working hour from this January to August of couriers is 71.3 hours. This is 1.9 times higher than the average working hour of workers of other professions and is much longer than the 52-hours workweek scheme that Korean government regulates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Labour Standards Act is applied to company with more than five employees. However, delivery service workers are not protected by the law, as couriers are regarded as self-employed workers (special contract worker), but not employees of a company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim vows to fight for a better working environment for delivery service workers. Established in 2017, the labour union has combated unreasonable and unfair issues for 45,000 couriers face. \u201cMany offices where parcel classification work is done didn\u2019t even have toilets in the past,\u201d Kim says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLogistic companies do not recognise couriers as their employees. We really hope these companies will offer a better working environment and treatment to couriers,\u201d Kim says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are still in the process of fighting for couriers to be recognised and treated like other normal employees,\u201d Kim says.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Parcel Service\u2019 Exhibition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim Jee-youn, a photographer who loves taking photos of marginalised people in society held an exhibition \u2018Parcel Service\u2019 in Jeonju, South Korea, praising their contribution to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was so surprised when my parcel was delivered to the doorstep at 11 p.m.,\u201d says Kim, explaining why she held the exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe shipping volume surges during the pandemic. I read several news articles regarding the working conditions of couriers. It was poorer than I thought. So, I started taking photos of parcels I have received for the photo exhibition,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition \u2013 \u2018Parcel Service\u2019 held between September 9 and October 10 this year showcased photos of parcels, illustrations of work structure of parcel service, screenshots of news articles and piles of parcel boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parcel boxes showcased in the \u2018Parcel Service\u2019 exhibition (Photo Courtesy of Kim Jee-youn)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to give a courier a bottle of juice in hot summer. But he was too busy that he had to leave my place right away. So I took a picture of his back and showcased the photo in the exhibition,\u201d Kim says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe always seek fast and convenient service, but I believe that we need to think of those who provide this speedy service for us all,\u201d Kim says.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Lasley Lui, Regina Chen
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