Samsung's Chinese manufacturing plant employs children in injury-prone environment

frogleg

Member
Aug 10, 2009
52
1
Report paints dire picture of Samsung factory’s working conditions

Earlier this year, allegations that workers at Apple's manufacturing partner in China, Foxconn, were being subjected to deplorable working conditions came to light and soon exploded into a major international investigation. Now a report by China Labor Watch indicates that Foxconn is far from alone in its practices. In fact, HEG Electronics, which manufactures products for Samsung, might just be worse.

According to the report, obtained by Laptop Mag, investigators found that HEG employs children under the age of 16 as "student laborers" that account for up to 80% of its workforce. These children are reportedly recruited from high schools to make up a temporary workforce during high-capacity periods such as new product launches.

The kids are said to earn about 70% of what their adult peers do while working in the same potentially dangerous conditions, but the low pay is far from the worst aspect of the job. One 14-year-old girl interviewed by investigators told of how she fell down stairs while walking from the on-site employee housing to her job on the assembly line, only to be denied medical treatment and by her superiors. She was docked pay following the incident and subsequently fired.

Other workers at the HEG factory told investigators that they are commonly hit by management and are forced to endure physical punishments such as standing at their posts for day-long shifts if they're not fast enough at their work. Psychological punishments are also reportedly practiced, such as workers having to write self-criticisms while facing constant threats of termination.

For its part, Samsung said it hasn't found any wrongdoing at the factory on previous visits, but will conduct another investigation of the labor conditions at HEG Electronics as soon as possible.

[via Gizmodo]

This article was written by Randy Nelson and originally appeared on Tecca

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This child abuse is real.
- Frogleg
 

Kumi3

Flaccid Member
Feb 8, 2011
64
2
70% ? That's a damn good wage for a kid. I got bugger-all, for years ! Standing all day at your post for punishment - a luxury ! Sacked after an injury ? - a quick lick from the dog, seal up the wound with superglue, and back to work.

And it's the Thai's that eat dog.
 

Gir633

Señor Member
Oct 28, 2008
556
172
70% ? That's a damn good wage for a kid. I got bugger-all, for years ! Standing all day at your post for punishment - a luxury ! Sacked after an injury ? - a quick lick from the dog, seal up the wound with superglue, and back to work.

And it's the Thai's that eat dog.

Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night half an hour before I went to bed, drink a cup of sulfuric acid, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad and our mother would kill us and dance about on our graves singing Hallelujah.

And you try and tell the young people of today that ..... they won't believe you
 

Gzed

New Member
Mar 10, 2012
12
0
According to this one news Article Chinese workers make between 75-110 US dollars a month and they have to work 80 hours a week for that.70% of that is $52.50-$77 a month.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A22507-2004Feb7?language=printer
80 hours per week during the busy season for $75 to $110 per month

That is a pretty old article from 2004. Chinese workers wages have been going up steadily over the last few years. I believe in some of the bigger cities they now have a minimum wage. Shanghai and Beijing are about $200 a month while Guangzhou and Shenzen are $205 and $208 respectively. Wages do vary a fair bit depending on where you are in China, obviously the place that pay most are the most expensive to live while others places can pay a lot less. Anyway you look at it it is not a lot of money but things do cost less in China mostly.
 

WillEater

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2008
1,004
450
Please don't get these kids fired..


Do you have any idea how difficult it is for a kid to get a new job at Christmas time? :joker: