Ministry to expand support for early morning delivery workers

The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Monday urged South Korean retailers operating early-morning deliveries to care for workers’ health.

Labor Minister Lee Jeong-sik had a meeting on Monday at a distribution center of Kurly in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, with the top retailers offering early-morning delivery services, including Kurly, Coupang, SSG.com, and Oasis Market.

“To protect the health of workers on early-morning delivery services, the government plans to expand support for in-depth medical examination expenses specialized in early detection of cardiac disorders and cerebrovascular diseases of workers,” Lee said.

“Furthermore, the Labor Ministry will set more worker health centers nationwide so that workers can get a wide range of psychological counseling,” Lee added.

These measures came as a 60-year-old subcontracted delivery worker for Coupang who was on an early morning delivery died in October. Taekbae Union, a labor group representing delivery drivers, argues that it resulted from overwork due to Coupang's excessive workload, but Coupang and the police concluded that it was caused by an underlying illness.

Thirteen delivery workers at Coupang have died while working over the past four years, according to Taekbae Union. The Committee for Coupang Workers' Human Rights and Health pointed out that night shift work, long working hours, and heavy workloads are linked to an increased risk of cardiac disorders and cerebrovascular diseases of workers.

Those retailers offer early-morning deliveries or overnight delivery services so that when orders are made as late as midnight, they are guaranteed to arrive by early morning the next day. However, these overnight delivery services face mounting criticism from labor organizations, who claim that the difficulties of late-night work and excessive workloads have led to fatalities.