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| Union members of Korea Post announce the decision to strike on July 9 at the Korean Federation of Trade Unions office in Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
Postal workers here will go on a general strike on July 9 for the first time in the 135 year-history of Korea Post, their union announced Tuesday.
The union said 92.87 percent of its union members gave their assent to the strike in a vote conducted the previous day.
The union has 28,802 members nationwide. Among them, 27,184 participated in the vote, and 25,247 approved the strike, according to the union.
The decision comes after a series of deaths among delivery workers. The union claimed 175 delivery workers have died since 2010, and some of their deaths resulted from overwork.
"We can no longer sit by and watch delivery workers dying," the union said in a statement. "We will go on a strike on July 9 for the first time in the history of the nation's postal services unless Korea Post and the government present proper countermeasures."
The union demands that Korea Post recruit more delivery workers and implement a five-day workweek.
The union applied for the National Labor Relations Commission's (NLRC) mediation for its negotiation with Korea Post, June 11.
The NLRC held the first mediation session on June 20, but the negotiation fell through after Korea Post refused to accept the union's demands, citing budget issues.
After the union announced its decision, Korea Post issued a statement, saying it will do its utmost to prevent the union from going on strike.
"We will continue dialogue with the union and give our full efforts to reach an agreement at the earliest possible date," Korea Post said.
Korea Post asked the union to work together to overcome the crisis rather than pursuing extreme measures, stressing that postal services are a foundation of distribution, which has a profound impact on the nation's economy.
Korea Post is the national postal service under the authority of the Ministry of Science and ICT.
