The Rider Union, a labor union of delivery men, claimed on Jan. 29 that “Woowa Youngmens,” which run the delivery app "Baemin," in which the German-based Delivery Hero (DH) is pushing for mergers and acquisitions, have frequently changed the working conditions of the riders to destabilize their lives.
In response, Baemin said it is not a breach of contract. "Baemin announced earlier this year that it would reduce the working hours of the Baemin delivery men to 20 hours a week, and it has abolished additional fees," the Rider Union said at a news conference. "In the past six months, it unilaterally changed the working conditions of the riders more than eight times to give disadvantages to them."
Rider Union cited the decision to end "Promotion," an additional daily fee paid by Woowa Youngmens according to the distance traveled at a basic delivery fee of 3,000 won to the rider, as a case in point of changing working conditions unfavorable to the riders.
"The contract that changed from this year requires us to notify riders a month in advance in case of changing the delivery fee system, but this time it notified the changed delivery fee system only 10 days in advance," the Rider Union said.
"The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) should investigate not only the possibility of monopoly stemming from the corporate merger (Baemin and Yogiyo) but also unfair practices that are currently taking place," the union added.
