Samsung one-ups Apple again: Physically abused, underage workers found in Samsung factory - Polidicks

[quote]It looks like Apple and Samsung have another thing in common, aside from their love of rectangular tablet designs: alleged labor abuses at the Chinese factories which make their products. In a scathing undercover report issued last night, activist group China Labor Watch detailed a litany of alleged abuses, including employing workers as young as 14, at Samsung supplier HEG’s factory complex in mainland China.In response to the allegations, Samsung issued a statement this morning saying it planned to reinspect the factory, which had passed previous audits: [I] Samsung Electronics has conducted two separate on-site inspections on HEG’s working conditions this year but found no irregularities on those occasions. Given the report, we will conduct another field survey at the earliest possible time to ensure our previous inspections have been based on full information and to take appropriate measures to correct any problems that may surface. Samsung Electronics is a company held to the highest standards of working conditions and we try to maintain that at our facilities and the facilities of partner companies around the world.[/I] In its [URL="http://chinalaborwatch.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/samsung8-27.pdf"]31-page report[/URL], China Labor Watch alleges that HEG, which manufactures mobile phones, MP3 players, stereo equipment and other devices for Samsung, has committed the following violations: [B]Employing Underage Workers: [/B]Undercover CLW investigators say they identified seven workers under the age of 16 who were employed in HEG’s packing department. The report states that HEG never checked the workers’ IDs to make sure they were of legal age after they were referred from a local technical school. According to CLW, after HEG discovered that it was employing underage workers, it moved them to an off-campus dormitory to avoid detection. [B]Physical Abuse: [/B]According to CLW, HEG workers who make any kind of mistake are subject to severe punishments, including being hit or forced to stand all day. The report states:[I]The management are abusive during work, sometimes hitting workers on the factory floor. Any carelessness, such as slow movements, misoperation, or late completion of team leaders’ orders could provoke the shouting of team leaders at anytime. Everyday, employees in the workshops were punished by standing all day long, writing self-criticism, or getting fined.[/I] [B]Failing to Treat or Compensate for Work-Related Injuries: [/B]CLW interviewed a female worker who claimed to be just 14 years old and told investigators that, after she fell on the stairs in April and hurt herself, HEG not only failed to treat her injury but also refused a request for sick leave and deducted six days from her pay for the time she missed. When she was ill in May and her sick leave was denied, she had three days pay deducted as penalty. This worker was later fired. [B]Excessive Overtime:[/B] According to the report, workers were forced to work 11 hours per day for six days a week and those on the production line might be forced to stand for 11 hours in a row. Night shift workers are given just one meal break during an 11-hour shift. [B]Fines for Reporting Problems: [/B]CLW reports that workers who report product defects are fined severely, just for catching problems:[I]According to the rules, a worker that discovers defects in the Samsung products will be rewarded by the company. But in reality , it never rewards employees; rather, it punishes them for reporting defects. Workers will be imposed a fine of 200 RMB ($31.7) each time they find a defect, and the fine was increased to 500 RMB ($79.4) beginning in March 2012. Evenmore, employees can face termination for finding defects.[/I] [B]Dangerous Conditions: [/B]According to CLW, workers at the HEG plant are regularly exposed to ethyl alcohol, but are only allowed to get new protective gloves once per day. Temperatures in the workshops become extremely hot and workers are not provided with so much as a first aid kit in either workshops or dormitories. “The company essentially offers no medical protection measures,” CLW wrote. Overall, CLW concluded that “working conditions at HEG are well below those general conditions in Apple’s supplier factories.” It looks like Samsung could have a controversy brewing.[/quote] tl;dr independent Chinese labour organisation China Labor Watch investigated a Samsung factory in China that employs people as young as 14, and hits them when they mess up. I'm sure the media will give this as much press as they gave Apple's violations. EDIT: Forgot my source; [URL]http://blog.laptopmag.com/samsung-investigating-alleged-child-labor-abuse-at-chinese-factory[/URL]

[QUOTE=Dr Egg]I'm sure the media will give this as much press as they gave Apple's violations.[/QUOTE] I doubt it. Samsung isn't quite king of the electronics world yet.

Maybe Apple will try to sue them after patenting chinese slave labour hurrrrrr

It's not like Samsung factories are dangerous. None of their machines have edges ever since apple patented rectangles!

[QUOTE=DamagePoint;37128510]I doubt it. Samsung isn't quite king of the electronics world yet.[/QUOTE] You're implying that apple are the king of electronics?

It saddens me to know that the product I enjoy is tempered with suffering and pain of less fortunate people... not all that much tho. Keep on mind this isn't Samsung or Apple thing. The people there will get treated like shit regardless of who they work for, as long as their economic and social environemnt doesn't change, and that's nothing Apple nor Samsung could do. All they could do would be moving the production to somewhere else, selling their products at significantly higher price to cover the expenses (because fuck cutting margins, right?), and the chinese workers would end up producing plastic toys or bad cars or radios or whatever. At blaming Apple or Samsung level, it's just shit throwing.

Samsung what are you doing.

[QUOTE=C:\;37129078]You're implying that apple are the king of electronics?[/QUOTE] In the media's eyes, yes. The media in general doesn't care as much about Samsung as much as it worships Apple, so it's pretty unlikely that this story will get any substantial media coverage.

This type of thing often isn't the fault of the business. Outsourcing production to Asian countries is exactly that - outsourcing. It's unlikely (but possible) that the higher-ups knew that this was happening at all. It's the fault of HEG, the manufacturer, not necessarily Samsung.

I don't care. I am still gonna buy this laptop. [url]http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP700Z5B-W01UB[/url]

How I interpreted the article was that the manufacturer in China (and not Samsung itself) said things were happening one way but when the door was closed things were going the other direction. China's always been really bad at upkeeping standards and human rights. Nothing new here other than it happened to a major company.

Misleading title. It's HEG and not necessarily Samsung at fault.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;37129195]It saddens me to know that the product I enjoy is tempered with suffering and pain of less fortunate people... not all that much tho.[/QUOTE] Everything electronic we own must have been built by someone underage like that, it wouldn't surprise me at all. Didn't Apple also have a few troubles of this sort?

[QUOTE=dass;37129788]Everything electronic we own must have been built by someone underage like that, it wouldn't surprise me at all. Didn't Apple also have a few troubles of this sort?[/QUOTE] Not sure if it was if the workers were underaged, but I remember it was because the working conditions were shit and wages were shit. They made it "better" by raising the wages for the workers but in the end the conditions are the same. They get up, work, sleep, work, sleep and then repeat until they get tired of it.

I'm gonna go ahead and say that Samsung should do something about this. Sure, it may not be Samsung that owns and operated the facility, but they should make sure that their products are assembled under fair conditions, no matter the country.