Samsung hit by fresh claims of labor violations in China
Staff Reporter 2012-09-14 16:03 (GMT+8)
The ground-breaking ceremony of Samsung's LCD plant in Suzhou on May 30, 2011. (File photo/Xinhua)
Samsung is the latest company to become involved in a controversy over harsh working conditions and labor law violations at its Chinese contract manufacturers, the Guangzhou-based Time Weekly reports.
Following a recent report revealing illegal labor practices at eight of Samsung's contract manufacturers, the NGO China Labor Watch revealed further violations such as the employment of underage workers at another Chinese company manufacturing Samsung products on Sept. 8.
Li Qiang, the head of the non-profit labor group, said its undercover investigation into HEG Electronics (Huizhou) Co, which produces handsets, stereos, DVD products, MP3 players and liquid crystal displays for Samsung, found seven workers under the legally stipulated age of 16 working there.
The group estimated the number of underage workers at HEG at around 50-100, and pointed out that these young people worked under the same conditions as adults, but were only paid 70% of adult workers' wages.
HEG has also been accused of physically abusing its employees and not providing medical care at its factories, where employees work 11 hours a day, six days a week.
The China Labor Watch report stated the case of 14-year-old Wu Xiaofang, who had applied for a job at HEG using her elder sister's identity card. According to Wu's wage slip for June, provided by Li, she worked 250 hours that month, with 11 night shifts between 8 pm and 8 am the next day.
"Working conditions at HEG are far poorer than those in the factories of Apple suppliers," the report by the group concluded.
Samsung responded by saying that the company has a zero-tolerance policy for child labor and that its own investigation into the allegations against HEG on Aug. 9 had not found such violations.
However, the South Korean company did admit that HEG had been guilty of illegal practices such as extracting weekly overtime of more than nine hours from its workers and not providing a medical treatment room on site. Samsung said it has asked the Chinese company to improve conditions.
Zhao Zhenling, the chief legal adviser at the Chinese legal services website www.fl168.com, said the violation was the result of contract manufacturers minimizing costs to boost the thin profits in their supply chains amid rising labor costs.
Zhao suggested Samsung assume responsibility and enhance its supervision of its contractors to avoid damage to its brand's reputation from such controversies.
China Labor Watch also said a hotline for workers should be set up in each factory, in addition to introducing group negotiation mechanisms and third-party review. "Apple and Samsung are both profitable companies and are capable of improving their working conditions," said Li.
Samsung said a team of over 100 people would visit its 105 exclusive suppliers in China by the end of September, and visit 144 suppliers who also undertake work for other companies by the end of this year, to ensure their legal compliance.
Samsung China declined to comment on whether it would include third parties in its investigation.
