Serve workers well to improve delivery service

Seven central government departments have jointly issued a guiding document which promises to better protect the rights and interests of express delivery personnel with regard to their wages, social security, working environment, responsibilities of their employers and job security.

E-commerce has become indispensable these days. The number of express deliveries exceeded 10 billion in 2014 and has since been growing by 10 billion a year.

Even amid the novel coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the number of express deliveries exceeded 83 billion. Domestic express delivery companies make 300 million deliveries every day, which in turn benefits the economy.

Although express delivery personnel have made this possible for society and the economy, their legal rights and interests are not well protected. They labor day in and day out but get a meager amount as wages. Sometimes customers ill-treat the deliverymen; as a result, many quit their jobs. Express delivery companies therefore find it hard to retain employees for more than three to five years.

It is necessary to work on three aspects in order to better protect the rights and interests of express delivery personnel. Related government departments must properly supervise and monitor express delivery companies to ensure they do not violate the legal rights and interests of their employees.

E-commerce platforms and express delivery companies must strengthen cooperation to meet the varied demands of customers, giving them fewer reasons to complain about the services. Lastly, express delivery companies must pay greater attention to their employees, ensuring they get enough rest instead of making them work extremely long hours and coercing them to meet short, even impossible, delivery deadlines.

Although technology has helped the express delivery industry grow, people remain the driving force behind it. Only by caring and protecting the rights and interests of express delivery personnel can the industry achieve inclusive growth.