Thread by @tonykchoi

🧵There’s a Korean bakery chain called Paris Baguette (PB) which is as ubiquitous as Starbucks in Korea. They have your café offerings like below-average coffee and mediocre French-style pastry ubiquitous with Korean bakeries. #1u

PB is owned by a conglomerate called SPC Group, which also owns the factories that bake the bread and pastries they sell at PB. SPC Group also operates foreign brands like @shakeshack @BaskinRobbins @dunkindonuts @JambaJuice in Korea. #1u

Here’s the list of brands ⬇️

At 6:20 a.m. KST on October 15, 2022, a 23 y/o woman working on the factory floor was crushed to death by a mixer after her apron got caught. This mixer was supposed to have been operated by 2 people, but she was working alone. #1u

From my time working at a ramen factory, I can tell you that these machines have a safety mechanism that stops them. Anyone working a factory floor can tell you that it’s a pain in the ass to restart them, but it’s fucking necessary. #1u

I was hired temporarily to fill in for a person whose finger got caught. But if the mechanism wasn’t there like in that SPC factory, I would have been hired on a permanent basis.

That’s how important safety is on these factory floors. #1u

The would have been tragic enough, but the SPC factory started production again the very next day, and the people who have witness the crushing of their coworker were told to report for their shifts right next to where her mangled corpse was splayed about just 24 hours ago. #1u

After public pressure, SPC granted them bereavement leave. SPC also responded to criticism saying that they were not obligated to install safety mechanisms.

The death opened the floodgates of labor violations like how a worker wasn’t sent to an ER after his hand got mangled bc he was a seasonal temp. #1u

SPC has a history of actively union busting, retaliating against unionizers in their ranks, and coercing the unionized workers to switch union membership to management/industry-friendly FKTU from worker-friendly KCTU. #1u

In response to this, there is an active boycott campaign against Paris Baguette and other SPC properties in Korea supported by KCTU. #1u

Here is where my non-Korean followers (aka most of you) come in. On the day of her death, instead of recognizing the incident, PB/SPC announced the 9th wave of international expansion of Paris Baguette stores.

Please DO NOT CROSS THE PICKET LINE and SUPPORT THE BOYCOTT. #1u

With over 6,000 stores globally, they’ve got at least 99 store in the U.S. Their goal is to have 30,000 stores by 2030, and they plan to do it in bread soaked in the blood of their workers. The Korean Ministry of Labor will not move to severely sanction w/o significant pressure.

More egregious details: SPC sent over 2 boxes of their cheapest pastry as a show of condolences

They covered the machine that killed her in a white sheet and told workers to go on as if nothing happened.

In 2018, half the pregnant women working in SPC facilities miscarried.