"Chuseok Peak Season..." Paris Baguette Store Owners in Distress

Democratic Labor Union Cargo Solidarity Strike Enters 15th Day
Cake and Finished Bread Delivery Disrupted
Store Owners Renting Delivery Vehicles Themselves

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] "It's been a difficult situation for two years, and now with a solidarity strike during the Chuseok peak season, I really can't believe this is happening. The fact that there is no bread in the bakery is not due to the company or the bakers, but because of the transportation refusal situation, it just makes me sigh."

The refusal of transportation by the Cargo Solidarity of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has continued for the 15th day, causing franchise owners of Paris Baguette to worry. They are unable to supply bread to customers on time at the bakery.

On the 16th, as the KCTU Cargo Solidarity launched a strike refusing transportation at 10 SPC Group logistics centers nationwide, the damage to franchise owners continues to grow. There are about 700 vehicles delivering finished bread and raw materials such as dough to Paris Baguette stores. Among them, about 200 vehicle owners, accounting for 30%, joined the strike. Other transport vehicles were also unable to depart on time due to union members blocking their entry. According to the SPC GFS Daegu logistics center, deliveries are usually made twice a day to 260-270 stores. Yesterday, some stores did not receive any delivery until 6 p.m. Cakes and other products produced at the Paris Baguette Daegu factory were also not delivered to the metropolitan area logistics centers and stores. There are concerns that shipments of some products produced outside the Seoul metropolitan area, such as cakes made in Daegu, will be disrupted.

The exact scale of the damage has not been tallied, but the related industry estimates that losses due to the strike since the 2nd have exceeded about 400 million won. This includes costs incurred by franchise owners renting delivery vehicles themselves, and the losses are expected to increase further when considering business disruptions.

A Paris Baguette franchise owner said, "It feels like a bolt from the blue during the holiday peak season," adding, "I haven't been able to open for morning business for several days, so I am directly bringing in supplies, but it's not an easy situation."

The biggest concern for franchise owners is trust with customers. The bakery has been unable to provide fresh bread properly for several days, failing to keep promises with customers. A Paris Baguette franchise owner located in the Gyeongbuk region said, "Morning sales have dropped to half of usual because we couldn't open," and added, "I'm worried customers will turn away if products are not displayed in the store or if the bread they want is not available."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.