14 South Korean delivery workers die because of pandemic overwork: Union

SEOUL - 14 delivery workers in South Korea have died of overwork this year because they had to handle a sharply higher volume of packages due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the latest fatality this week, a union official said. A worker for CJ Logistics Corp collapsed while taking a short break late on Tuesday night (Oct 20) and later died in hospital, according to an official at the union representing delivery workers. The dead also included one worker who committed suicide after leaving a note about the harsh conditions he had toiled in, the official said. One of the deaths was attributed to heart failure, while the causes of death for the rest were only described as "kwarosa" by the families, a Korean term used for sudden death due to heart failure or a stroke as a result of extreme hard work. CJ on Thursday issued a public apology over the deaths of five of its workers, vowing to improve conditions for its couriers. The country's top logistics firm with 20,000 delivery workers said it was discussing compensation with the families.

from Asia
Read More