Mar 22 • 09:48 UTC 🇰🇷 Korea Hankyoreh (KR)

‘Bloodstained Bread’... I Bled When I Was 20 Years Old 13 Years Ago [Voice of 6411]

In a personal account, a former SPC worker recounts the harsh working conditions and injuries faced during her employment at the SPC Samlip factory in Korea.

In her first-person narrative, a former SPC worker named Yoon Ji-soo describes her difficult experiences working at the SPC Samlip factory in Siheung, South Korea. She began her employment at the age of 20, entering through a local recruitment agency, and was subjected to grueling 12-hour shifts alternating between day and night. Although she was contracted at minimum wage, her earnings, enriched by night and overtime allowances, amounted to approximately 2.4 million won per month after tax deductions. The line never stopped running, except during major holidays, as she participated in the assembly of several snack items, many of which are popular in local convenience stores and supermarkets.

However, the nature of her work involved significant risks, and she witnessed a lack of safety training or protocols to mitigate hazards in the workplace. Yoon recounted experiencing three injuries during her time at the factory, with the most severe incident occurring in June 2013. On that fateful night, following a warning from a manager about defective products, she faced an emergency while operating a cutting machine that malfunctioned. As she attempted to rectify the issue without stopping the production line, she ended up with a severe laceration on her hand, highlighting the perilous conditions faced by workers at the plant. Despite these challenges, she continued to work until she left the factory less than a year later to pursue her education, emphasizing the dire state of labor conditions in the industry.

Yoon’s reflections serve as an important commentary on workers' experiences in the manufacturing sector in South Korea, shedding light on the systemic issues of safety and labor rights. Her narrative illustrates the struggles faced by many young workers in the pursuit of economic stability while confronting unsafe working environments. As labor conditions continue to be a pressing issue in many sectors, her story underscores the need for better safety regulations and protections for workers, particularly in high-demand industries such as food production.

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