Early voting for the June 3 local elections and National Assembly by-elections begins on May 29 and continues for two days. Labor advocates warn that certain categories of workers — including parcel couriers, delivery riders and supermarket online-delivery staff employed under special contracts or through digital platforms — remain effectively excluded from guaranteed voting time.
Incheon Ilbo reported on May 28 that the Public Official Election Act allows workers who are scheduled to work both during early voting and on election day to request the time needed to cast their ballots from their employers. Employers are prohibited from refusing such requests, and must inform workers in advance of the amount of voting time they may claim.
The problem is that the provision applies only to “those employed by others.” Many workers engaged through platform arrangements or consignment contracts receive routing and tasking from headquarters, franchise agents or the platform’s dispatch system, yet are legally classified as sole proprietors or contractors. Critics say that leaves access to voting time dependent on a company’s decision to suspend operations, a franchisee’s discretion, or whether an individual is willing to forego pay.
Delivery riders are a prominent example. Even when election day is a public holiday, demand often holds steady or rises, and platforms frequently offer holiday missions or extra pay, making it difficult for riders to give up a day’s earnings to secure time to vote.
Ju Seong-jung, head of the Rider Union’s Gyeonggi chapter at the Public Transport Workers’ Union, said, “Riders could take the day off only by giving up income. Delivery rates have fallen from around 3,000 KRW (approximately $2.25) a decade ago to the low 1,000 KRW range (about $0.75) today, and platforms pay extra for holiday missions, so it’s not easy to skip work.”
Parcel and supermarket online-delivery workers face similar pressures. If a company continues normal operations or suspends only part of its deliveries, workers who reduce hours or take time off to vote risk losing income and suffering disadvantages in dispatching.
Labor groups are calling for legislation to guarantee paid leave on election days and for full application of the Labor Standards Act to these workers. Rep. Lee Hak-young (Gunpo) of the Democratic Party has introduced a bill to expand the category eligible for voting-time protection from “those employed by others” to “those who provide labor.”
Lee Tae-hwan, senior vice chair of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, said, “Workers at firms with fewer than five employees, special-contract and platform workers, and countless irregular workers are being deprived of their constitutional right to vote because of gaps in law, policy and working conditions. The rights of citizens as sovereigns cannot be left to employers’ discretion — they must be secured through law and regulation.”
/By Hyejin Kim trust@incheonilbo.com
Most Commented