"Delivery drivers, please vote" Coupang suspends Rocket Delivery from 7 AM to 8 PM on election day

[Financial News] Coupang will suspend daytime Rocket Delivery (7 AM∼8 PM) on the 3rd of next month, which is the 21st presidential election day, to ensure delivery drivers' voting rights.

According to Yonhap News on the 29th, Coupang's delivery subsidiary Coupang Logistics Services (CLS) notified courier service points via email that "in response to demands from labor and civic groups, daytime delivery volumes on June 3rd will not be entrusted to service points."

Coupang decided to suspend daytime Rocket Delivery after other courier companies like CJ Logistics, Hanjin, Lotte Global Logistics, and Logen Courier accepted the demand to ensure delivery drivers' voting rights and decided to take a day off on election day. This is the first time Rocket Delivery has been suspended since the service began in 2014.

Coupang Logistics' directly employed personnel, known as 'Coupang Friends', will be treated as regular employees with paid leave, and courier service point-affiliated delivery drivers who are independent contractors will not be entrusted with delivery volumes. Additionally, daytime staff at Coupang Logistics Services (CLS) affiliated camps (delivery bases) will also take a break.

The industry estimates that about 20,000 people, including Coupang-affiliated personnel and daytime delivery drivers at courier service points, will take a break. While the Coupang Fulfillment Center, which stores products for delivery, will suspend daytime delivery-related tasks, it will continue normal operations for tasks like product intake.

Meanwhile, as daytime delivery is suspended on the 3rd of next month, there may be a surge in orders for dawn delivery (Wow Delivery·Rocket Fresh) completed by 7 AM. This could delay the completion time of dawn delivery, and Coupang plans to inform customers of this situation through the Coupang app and other means.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Service Federation National Courier Union stated in a statement that "this election day holiday is a standard of social responsibility demanded by Korean society that Coupang has accepted," and "it is a historic first step in practically ensuring the voting rights of courier workers."

The union added, "We hope this will be the starting point for restructuring to prevent deaths from overwork, not just a single day of rest," and "measures are needed to prevent follow-up damage to night workers on election day or workers the next day due to delayed delivery volumes."
bng@fnnews.com Kim Hee-sun reporter