SPC Boycott Movement Spreads on SNS Following Death of Female Worker in Her 20s

Netizens Share SPC Group Subsidiary Brands with '#SPCbulmae'
Heo Yeongin, SPC Chairman, "Doing Our Best to Prevent Recurrence Including Improving Work Environment"

List of SPC Group brands shared online. Photo by Twitter capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] Amid the incident where a worker was caught in a sauce mixer and died at a bakery factory affiliated with SPC Group, an SPC boycott movement is spreading mainly online.

On the 18th, posts listing the brands affiliated with SPC Group and expressing participation in the boycott movement have been continuously uploaded on social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter and Facebook. Posts with hashtags like '#SPCbulmae' and '#Akdeokgieop' were shared. On Twitter, '#SPCbulmae' trended in real-time for two consecutive days.

The appearance of 'SPC Bulmae' rising in Twitter's real-time trends. Photo by Twitter capture

This boycott movement grew from a shared sentiment that the company's unreasonable behavior, disregarding workers' human rights and lives, cannot be tolerated. On the 15th, a 23-year-old female worker A, working at an SPC Group-affiliated bakery factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, was caught in a sauce mixer and died.

A week before the fatal accident, there was another hand injury accident on a different production line within the factory, but it was revealed that the company did not take the temporary worker to the hospital. Furthermore, reports emerged that the day after the fatal accident, the company resumed operations with other machines while only covering the accident site in the mixing room with cloth, which fueled public outrage.

This is not the first time the labor rights situation at SPC Group affiliates has been controversial. In 2017, illegal dispatch and unfair labor practices involving Paris Baguette bakers were also issues.

SPC Chairman Heo Young-in officially apologized on the 17th with a statement in his name regarding the fatal accident, saying, "I offer my deepest condolences and apologies to the bereaved family and pray for the repose of the deceased who lost their life in this unfortunate accident." He added, "The company is sincerely cooperating with the authorities' investigation and doing its best to identify the cause of the accident and take follow-up measures," and stated, "We will devote all efforts to improving the work environment and investing in facilities to prevent recurrence so that such a heartbreaking incident never happens again."

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