Is BGF Retail’s Labor Policy a Recipe for Tragedy? Unpacking the CU Worker Death Incident

Translation result.

Labor groups are demanding formal apologies not only from the company but also from the government — and from the president — after a cargo worker died at a CU logistics center in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province.

On the morning of the 27th, the Public Transport Workers’ Union, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), held a press conference outside BGF Retail’s Gangnam headquarters and called for broad accountability for the incident. Union leaders said the death reflects structural problems, not merely a safety lapse.

Eom Gil-yong, chair of the Public Transport Workers’ Union, told reporters, “This is not simply a death; it is tantamount to murder.” He placed strong blame on corporate capital and state authority for the incident.

Eom added that conditions at the site have not changed despite the change in administration. “We must hold not only the Gyeongnam provincial police chief but also the national police chief and the Minister of the Interior and Safety accountable and demand apologies,” he said. “The president, who bears overall responsibility, must step forward and apologize.”

At the same event, Lee Tae-hwan, senior deputy chair of the KCTU, pointed to the deployment of replacement vehicles during the strike and argued that the authorities who allowed this are not free from responsibility. He also criticized the Ministry of Employment and Labor for failing to act meaningfully despite protracted stagnation in talks with the primary contractor, and urged the government to intervene directly to resolve the matter.

The union singled out BGF Retail’s avoidance of bargaining as the root cause of the accident. Koo Gyo-hyun, head of the Rider Union branch of the Public Transport Workers’ Union, said delivery workers who could be hired as regular employees are instead contracted under special-status arrangements. He described this model as a structure designed to cut costs and evade responsibility, arguing that such employment practices expend and marginalize workers and reflect broader structural problems in the convenience store industry.

After the press conference, the union set up a public memorial incense altar beside the headquarters’ main gate to mourn the worker who died in the incident.