ITUC OnLine - Korean President Moon Called on to Stop Samsung Vietnam Abuse
Brussels, 21 March 2018 (ITUC OnLine): The International Trade Union Confederation has put threats against factory
workers and labour activists in Samsung’s Vietnamese factories on top of the agenda for President Moon Jae-in during his
visit to the country.
In a letter to the Korean leader, Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, highlighted the risks to human and labour
rights in Samsung’s operations and urged the President to engage Samsung management both in Korea and in Vietnam to
address grievances and ensure that the company carries out human rights due diligence with respect to Samsung
subsidiaries and suppliers.
“Samsung’s track record of human and labour rights abuses has been exposed in nearly every country where they operate.
From covering up the name of industrial chemicals that induce workers’ deaths and illness in the interests of ‘trade
secrets’, to a no-union policy across its Asian electronics industry, Samsung relies on a business model that has lost
its moral compass,” said Sharan Burrow.
Pressure on Samsung’s operations in Vietnam has been growing since evidence emerged from the Hanoi-based Research Centre for Gender, Family, Environment and Development (CGFED) and IPEN a global network of environment and health NGOs working to reduce and eliminate harmful chemicals, which showed workers
were not shown how to protect themselves from toxic chemicals used to manufactured mobile phones.
Young women working at Samsung factories have reported symptoms of fainting, fatigue and miscarriage associated with
toxic chemicals.
UN human rights experts expressed their concern this week about the harassment and intimidation of workers who spoke about their conditions at
work. Workers have been asked to present themselves to government authorities and threatened with lawsuits.
Samsung Electronics is Vietnam’s largest foreign investor employing nearly 137,000 workers in two plants in the country,
manufacturing 50% of the company’s mobile phones.
“President Moon’s leadership and commitment to human and labour rights is critical to ensuring respect for the rights of
millions of workers in the region producing goods and providing services to multinational companies,” said Sharan
Burrow.
The ITUC report, Modern Technology, Medieval Conditions pieced together the global scandal of Samsung’s worldwide operations from Brazil to Korea, and a multimedia documentary
showed conditions in Samsung’s supply chain in Indonesia and the Philippines www.samsungexposed.org.
President Moon is visiting Vietnam to promote his administrations “New Southern Policy”, a regional economic strategy to
strengthen relationships between Korea and ASEAN countries.
“Korea’s President has repeatedly affirmed his commitment to ratify ILO core conventions and to follow the
recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission. The “New Southern Policy” should not only target forging
economic ties with South East Asia, but must also reflect commitments to respect human rights, in particular concerning
the behaviour of Korean companies,” said Sharan Burrow
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