Reuters reports that South Korean electronics manufacturer, Samsung recently came under fire from worker rights groups who accused the firm’s Chinese suppliers of employing illegal work practices. The negative views surfaced only a day after Samsung claimed that its suppliers in China were giving employees excessive overtime and fines. Samsung is not the only major producer that has gotten into hot water because of controversial work policies in China. Apple has received a lot of negative press because of what many see as oppressive work condition at the company’s Chinese supplier.
Many large manufacturers move operations to China to save on labour costs. Although the shipping of production overseas saves money, it makes oversight and control much more difficult. This can lead to abuse by suppliers. According to the China Labor Watch (CLW) Samsung’s Chinese suppliers are taking advantage of employees and one specific manufacturer is making staff work 16 hours in a day while giving them only one day off a month.
Samsung did a self review of its suppliers in China and released the results earlier in the week. The world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones an TVs stated that after looking closely at is 105 suppliers and their 65,000 employees it had discovered illegal work practices. The makers of the popular Galaxy SIII smartphone said that it would give the offenders two more years to come in line with the South Korean firm’s policies.
The review by Samsung came after allegations from the New York based CLW that children younger than 16 were employed at the company’s Chinese suppliers. The Samsung audit found zero evidence of child labour but did encounter other issues like excessive fines for being late to work and overtimes that did not follow the law.
The company stated that , “We have identified the need for initiatives to reduce employee overtime as a top priority, and we are researching and developing measures that will eliminate hours beyond legal limits by the end of 2014.”
CLW did a follow up review of Samsung’s suppliers and claimed that, “The worst situation is in a Samsung supplier factory called Chitwing Mould Industry (Dongguan) Co., Ltd, where workers’ overtime hours surpass 220 hours per month. Workers here can work up to 15 or 16 hours per day with perhaps one day of rest per month.” They also did not support the reliability of Samsungs own audit and stated that, “Samsung uses an audit system to monitor factories, but audits are renowned for their lack of reliability. Instead of audits, Samsung should establish direct channels of communication with its workers, such as worker committees or a worker hotline.”
Source: Business Insider
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