National Franchise Owners Association: "Cannot Tolerate Cargo Solidarity Strike at the Expense of Store Owners' Livelihood"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The National Franchise Owners Association on the 24th stated, "The strike by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Cargo Solidarity is putting the survival rights of franchise owners, who are already in extremely difficult situations, at risk and cannot be tolerated for any reason," urging for normalization.

The association released a statement saying, "The delivery strike by the KCTU Cargo Solidarity has expanded nationwide since the 15th, causing the damages to Paris Baguette franchise owners to snowball," emphasizing, "The association views the current situation with a sense of shared suffering."

It continued, "Due to ongoing logistics disruptions and various obstructive acts, the damages suffered by Paris Baguette franchise owners have reached an amount that individual owners cannot bear," adding, "The innocent victims, Paris Baguette franchise owners, have announced that they will hold those responsible strictly accountable both civilly and criminally for the damages caused by this incident."

The association stated, "In principle, our franchise owners support the struggles of workers to realize their rights regarding survival, unfairness, and irrationality," but argued, "If the workers' demands infringe upon the survival rights of other socially vulnerable groups, such actions are inappropriate and should be restrained."

Furthermore, the association said, "The National Franchise Owners Association strongly urges the Cargo Solidarity to immediately stop the strike and resolve the issues through reasonable dialogue."

The Cargo Solidarity strike began earlier this month at Honam Shani's Gwangju factory and expanded to SPC workplaces nationwide from the 15th.

On the afternoon of the same day, about 300 union members who had been holding an overnight sit-in in front of the SPC Samlip Cheongju factory disbanded after 33 hours. The disbanded union members reportedly moved to their respective regional protest sites, including Sejong.