Samsung Accountability Campaign Update

Samsung Accountability Campaign Update:
Samsung’s profits soar as more workers die from occupational cancer

At its annual shareholders’ meeting on March 19, 2010 in Seoul, South Korea, Samsung Electronics -- which now ranks # 1 in flat screen TV sales and #2 in mobile phone sales -- CEO Choi Gee-sung told shareholders: “We have become a world class company?" He failed to mention that the week before there had been a protest rally and press conference at the Samsung headquarters calling on Samsung to accept responsibility for the many workers who have developed cancer while working for the company. Tragically, another young worker -- Park Ji-yeon -- from Samsung’s Onyang semiconductor factory just died of leukemia at the age of 23 on March 31, 2010.

This gruesome pattern makes me believe that Samsung is building their empire on the bodies of their workers. How may lives could have been saved if Samsung had spent a tiny fraction of their profits to provide a safer workplace? How many lives can be saved in the future if Samsung (and other chemical handing companies) spend a few more dollars to prevent toxic exposures to its workers? What can we do to make Samsung more accountable to its workers as it enjoys its new status as a “world class company”? One thing you can start with is to sign the Samsung Accountability Petition here (people from 44 countries have already done so).

I was one of the speakers at the Samsung memorial and rally on March 5, representing the International Campaign for Responsible Technology, an NGO which advocates for sustainable practices in the global electronics industry. Samsung workers, their families, and community supporters participated in the 1st Memorial Week of occupational deaths of semiconductor workers to honor the memory of those who gave their lives working at Samsung. As the evening progressed, a brigade of riot police spread out in front of Samsung, and just as I was starting to speak, a police commander across the street from us pulled out his bull horn and demanded that the assembled crowd disperse immediately. When many in the crowd yelled back that they would not be intimidated by the police, I proceeded to give my speech, bringing solidarity messages from around the world and explaining how the Samsung cancer cluster is similar to the IBM cases in the US, the National Semiconductor cases in the UK, and the RCA cases in Taiwan. I also pointed out that the pattern of cancer deaths at IBM in the US as documented by Dr. Richard Clapp was similar to the pattern at Samsung. I asked how many deaths of young workers could have been prevented if Samsung had monitored the health of its workers as vigorously as it monitors its competitors and their markets.

Samsung CEO Choi stated at the recent shareholders meeting: "We have a real upper hand when it comes to competitiveness," he said, though warned that Samsung's rivals were "also seeking a leap forward," which he added means "fiercer competition." What will it take to encourage competition for the safest and most humane work place? CEO Choi did not address this question.

Other speakers – including Mr. Hwang, father of Yu-mi Hwang a young Samsung worker who died from cancer, labor and community activists, and other visiting guests from Asia Monitor Resource Centre in Hong Kong and the RCA victims group from Taiwan – called on Samsung to acknowledge their responsibility for the many cancers that have struck young workers (many under 30) who have been exposed to chemicals in the so-called “clean rooms”. Many health studies conducted over the past 20 – 30 years have shown an increased risk of leukemia from exposure to the kinds of solvents commonly found in electronics manufacturing. Several speakers also talked about the anti-union policies of the company they have come to refer to “The Republic of Samsung”.

The week that I spent in Korea was life-changing. Starting with the initial press conference where we launched the new Samsung Accountability Campaign in front of the company headquarters, we urged people to join a global movement by signing our web based petition and there was a feeling of growing energy and momentum enabled by all the hard work of the many activists from Supporters of Health And Right of People in Semiconductor Industry (SHARPS) and Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health (KILSH).

We next went to the Hyo-won Charnel House where the ashes of the Samsung workers are maintained and we held a somber ceremony to honor the young workers who have died. Ae-jeung Jeong said a prayer and laid a wreath for her deceased husband Min-woong Hwang, a Samsung engineer who died from leukemia at age 32 after working in Samsung’s Gi-heung factory. We also paid tribute to Sook-young Lee, who died of leukemia at age 30 after working at as Yu-mi Hwang partner in the Gi-heung factory. The fact that these 2 young women worked next to each other and both died of leukemia is what prompted the formation of SHARPS.

As we paid our respects, an old memory seeped into my consciousness – something about how “Asians don’t value life” the way that westerners do. As I experienced the pain and deep mourning of the families for their lost relatives, I was overwhelmed by how outrageous and demonstrably false that slur was. (When I returned home, I dug up the exact quote from General William Westmorland – the top US general during the Vietnam war, who proclaimed that "The Oriental doesn't put the same high price on life as does a Westerner...We value life and human dignity. They don't care about life and human dignity.") Once more the horror and shame of Vietnam washed over me. And it made me wonder if the executives at Samsung and other high-tech companies feel the same way about their workers – that they are somehow expendable since their lives are not a valuable as those of the managers. As we commemorate the thirty-seventh anniversary of America's withdrawal from Vietnam on March 29th, it is important that we unearth the many lies from our past and approach the future with clarity and courage.

Other activities organized by SHARPS while I was in Korea included:

• leafleting outside several Samsung plants in Giheung (Samsung city). While we were constantly harassed by Samsung security, most of the workers were eager to observe our banners and photos and to take and read the information we passed out;
• holding a candle light vigil outside a major Suwon shopping center by the train station. SHARPS set up banners and posters, gathered signatures on the Samsung petition, and showed the Samsung video;
• sponsoring an international symposium on “The Condition and Struggle of Electronic Workers in Asia at the Human Rights Centre in Korea”. Speakers included – Si-Ouk Lee, Vice chair of the 150,000 member Korean Metal Workers Union, who called for a ban on carcinogens in the workplace. Other speakers were from the Korea Institute of Labour Safety and Health, AMRC, TAVOI, Labour Watch, and representatives from other unions in Korea. Apo Leong from AMRC pointed out that Samsung’s membership in the EICC (Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition) underscores the bankruptcy of that organization and called on the EICC to expel Samsung. This suggestion was met with uniform positive response by the participants.
The Samsung workers' story is integral to what is, for us, an all-too-familiar, decades-long saga that includes similar actions and reactions around the world:

• demands from workers and communities for the "right-to-know" about toxic chemical use, exposures and health information vs. corporate claims of "trade secrets" and “proprietary information” when people’s health is at stake,

• claims by corporations that workers have “no proof” that toxic chemicals are harmful while at the same time these same companies refuse to do ongoing health monitoring or to participate in health studies;

• intense anti-union bias from electronics employers vs. workers demands for decent working conditions, respect and corporate accountability for harm,

• corporate 'green-washing' as companies use public relations to build and protect valuable market share in the huge consumer electronics market, regardless of environmental and health impacts of production on workers and communities.

• government indifference or hostilities to those who bring these issues into the public arena because of their blind commitment to “economic development at any cost” and who are afraid that public visibility of the “collateral damage” caused by high-tech development will undermine their “economic miracle”.

SHARPS has undertaken the challenge of piecing together and showing how, once again, the image of a "clean industry” is at odds with the grim reality of chemically-intensive production and the “just-in-time” production demands that take such a huge toll on their workers lives. And their story is compelling – they are truly writing the next chapter of “Challenging the Chip” through their work. With the support of strong unions and well organized community and environmental organizations, Korea may well become the model for safer jobs and healthy families within the global electronics industry.