Korea Labor Foundation distributes 10,000 water bottles to delivery workers amid heat wave

The Korea Labor Foundation has launched a water distribution drive and safety campaign to protect delivery and logistics workers from heat-related illness during the ongoing heat wave.

The foundation held a "delivery worker heat illness prevention water-sharing ceremony" at the Lotte Global Logistics center on Jeju Island on Wednesday, distributing 10,000 bottles of water to workers at major delivery logistics centers nationwide. The event was organized to protect workers at delivery and logistics sites, where the risk of heat-related illness rises sharply during summer heat waves.

The campaign follows an MOU the Korea Labor Foundation signed last year with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions' Delivery Industry Headquarters and the Korea Lifestyle Logistics Delivery Service Association. The foundation said it plans to steadily expand summer safety activities for delivery and logistics center workers.

The water was co-sponsored by the Korea Labor Foundation and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Development Corp. (Jeju Samdasoo). The event brought together labor and management from across the delivery industry, including the Federation of Korean Trade Unions' Delivery Industry Union, the CJ Logistics Delivery Agency Alliance, the Lotte Delivery National Agency Council, the Hanjin Delivery Agency Association, the Logen Delivery National Branch Managers Council and the Coupang Inc. Partners Alliance. The Federation of Korean Trade Unions' Jeju Regional Headquarters, the Good Friends Industrial Welfare Foundation and the Jeju Labor Rights Center also joined to help spread a culture of safety among local workers.

In August, the foundation plans to distribute fire extinguishers and other safety supplies to prevent fire and explosion accidents at logistics centers and in delivery vehicles, and will continue related safety campaigns.

Park Jong-pil, secretary-general of the Korea Labor Foundation, said the foundation would "take the lead in substantively advancing the rights and interests of delivery and logistics center workers so they can work more safely, drawing on the voices from the field." He added that it would "continuously pursue proactive safety and health activities to protect on-site workers through public-private cooperation."