The Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC), chaired by Kim Ji-hyung, held a Platform Workers Field Roundtable on Thursday, December 18, at 4:00 p.m. at the Bukchang Shelter for Mobile Workers operated by Hue (休) Seoul, to directly hear voices from the front lines of platform labor.

As platform industries have recently become a core component of distribution and logistics services, and as job matching through digital platforms increasingly replaces traditional forms of employment, the protection of platform workers has emerged as a critical social issue.

The roundtable was convened to listen firsthand to urgent challenges and demands for institutional reform amid the rapid expansion of the platform economy. Workers from representative platform-based occupations—including substitute driving, delivery, courier services, domestic and care work, and call center services—participated in the discussion.

Gwak Hyun-hee, Vice Chair of the Korean Solidarity Trade Union, representing call center platform workers, stated that “there is a need to establish wage-rate standards that properly reflect the job value of call center counselors, along with separate legal safeguards to protect call center workers.”

Kim Sa-seong, Chair of the Courier Industry Division, emphasized that “expanded night and early-morning deliveries, as well as seven-day delivery operations, have led to repeated cases of overwork and safety accidents,” calling for the urgent institutionalization of “a five-day workweek, guaranteed consecutive rest periods, and the right to suspend work during extreme heat and cold as a minimum protection of workers’ right to life.”

Lee Sang-guk, Chair of the Platform Drivers’ Union, pointed out that “substitute drivers are left in a legal blind spot, bearing insurance costs and night-time risks individually,” stressing the need for “the enactment of a Substitute Driving Act centered on worker protection and the introduction of a worker-led public mutual insurance scheme.”

Choi Young-mi, Chair of the Domestic and Care Workers Union, noted that “although the number of platform-based domestic workers has rapidly increased, they remain excluded from employment and industrial accident insurance,” adding that “the Act on Domestic Workers must be revised to reflect the realities of platform labor.”

Seon Dong-young, Chair of the Platform Delivery Division, stated that “accidents and fatalities among delivery workers continue under platform structures that fuel speed competition,” and called for “participatory, worker-centered safety training rather than formalistic education, as well as substantive improvements to employment and industrial accident insurance systems.”

Chairman Kim Ji-hyung remarked, “While the expansion of the platform industry has created new opportunities, it has also undeniably increased instability for workers in terms of employment, income, safety, and social security,” emphasizing that “the issues surrounding platform labor are precisely the areas where tripartite social dialogue among labor, management, and government is essential.”

Meanwhile, the ESLC plans to continue engagement with a broad range of stakeholders through consultations with tripartite actors, expanding dialogue not only on the platform industry but also with vulnerable groups such as youth, women, non-regular workers, and labor and management across key industries, with the aim of strengthening the foundation for revitalizing social dialogue.