A view of Coupang’s headquarters. Hankyoreh file photo
“The situation on the ground is very dire, with drivers being purged (delivery area recalled) for going to their grandmother’s funeral, for going to the reserve forces, or for taking time off because their child was sick. In order to meet performance standards, we work even on holidays, and even when roads were flooded due to heavy rain last year, we are worried that we will not be able to deliver on time at 7 a.m.” The head of a Coupang Logistics Service (CLS) agency appeared at a debate held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 11th and explained the reality of courier workers as he saw it in the field. Even the agency owner raised concerns about the overwork and job insecurity of Coupang CLS’ courier workers. Coupang CLS signs a business contract with the agency owner, and courier workers belong to each agency and perform delivery work. The agency manager who testified said, “We are also directly delivering the shortfall to fill the index.” On this day, the National Federation of Service Industry Unions and Progressive Party lawmaker Kang Seong-hee held a discussion session on ‘Contractual relationships and labor conditions of Coupang (CLS) viewed from the norms of social agreement on deaths from overwork in couriers’ and said, “Coupang CLS is implementing a social agreement to prevent deaths from overwork of courier drivers.” “By failing to do so, we are violating positive law even in our contractual relationship with the agency.” The reason why they have singled out Coupang CLS as an issue is because Coupang CLS, a latecomer in the industry, has only grown in size outside of the social consensus that has been made by the courier industry, courier workers, the government, and the National Assembly. Coupang CLS, which was a new company at the time, did not participate in the ‘Social Agreement to Resolve the Problem of Courier Deaths from Overwork’ (Social Agreement) that was released in 2021. Even now, having risen to second place in the industry, he refuses to participate. There were also claims that it violated the Living Logistics Service Development Act (Living Logistics Act), which was revised according to social consensus. In order to protect workers (delivery drivers), the Living Logistics Act requires the contractual relationship between delivery companies and agencies to be predictable and to maintain stable contracts, but Coupang CLS’s contract does not specify the scope of consignment work. It also stipulates that the contract can be terminated depending on the performance rate. Through an ‘attached agreement’, indicators such as fresh food delivery rate, monthly performance rate, and delivery rate on non-working days are to be achieved, and if these are not achieved, the delivery area in charge will be recalled. As a result, Coupang CLS’s labor intensity is likely to exceed the 60 hours a week stipulated in the Living Logistics Act. According to a survey by the Korea Labor and Society Research Institute of 227 Coupang CLS workers last April, the average number of deliveries per day was 318, the average working hours per day were 9.8 hours, and the average number of working days per week was 5.9 days. Additionally, 4 out of 10 people responded that they had experienced or witnessed area retrieval (cleansing). Han Seon-beom, policy director of the National Courier Workers’ Union, said, “As Coupang entered the delivery industry, it signed contracts with agencies that did not guarantee areas, so workers are also not assigned guaranteed areas.” “Employment instability is being revived through cleansing,” he pointed out. Park Seok-woon, co-representative of the courier worker death from overwork response committee, said, “In the case of Coupang CLS, although it is operating as a courier service provider under the Living Logistics Act, it not only does not adhere to social agreements, but is also violating the law and does not apply standard contracts.” “This is an act that disrupts the real ecosystem of the delivery industry and commits social dumping,” he said.
On the afternoon of the 11th, a discussion session was held in the 5th conference room of the National Assembly Building. Reporter Jang Hyeon-eun
This morning, the Lawyers for a Democratic Society and the Service Federation filed a report to the Fair Trade Commission on charges of violating the Fair Trade Act and the Subcontracting Act, saying that Coupang CLS is forcing sales targets through an attached agreement when signing a contract with a dealership. Minbyeon Lee, a lawyer at the People’s Livelihood Economic Committee, pointed out, “The biggest problem is that the minimum quantity for dealers is not guaranteed and the contract can be canceled at any time.” Coupang told the Hankyoreh on this day, “We are complying with related laws such as the Living Logistics Service Act, and in order to prevent damage to customer delivery delays and overwork of couriers due to a shortage of couriers at dealerships, we changed the consignment route after consultation with the dealership and signed a contract. “This is an improvement of chronic problems in the existing courier industry and has nothing to do with the termination of courier contracts at some agencies,” he said. Reporter Jang Hyeon-eun mix@hani.co.kr
2023-09-11 11:46:25
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