The struggle for justice for workers must be the struggle of everyone.The struggle involving NGOs, civil society groups and workers for justice achieves victory...see also :- Samsung offers "deep apology" and compensation for illnesses and deaths of factory workers
SHARPS is the main group that was involved in this campaign - a group comprised of civil society, Trade Union, etc...
Who is SHARPS?
We are Supporters for the Health And Rights of People in the Semiconductor industry. We are composed of independent labor unions (KCTU), human right groups, occupational safety and health (OSH) groups, progressive political parties, and workers’ organizations against Samsung.
Samsung Finally Apologizes To Workers Who Got Cancer While Making Chips
| by
YOUKYUNG LEE
Posted:
Updated:
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. apologized
and promised compensation to chip factory workers who suffered cancers
linked to chemical exposure, a rare win for families and activists seven
years after the death of a 23-year-old employee from leukemia
galvanized a movement to hold the company to account.
Samsung said
the apology does not mean it concedes a link between the chemicals used
in its chip factories and cancer and other diseases. Still, the
company's statement Wednesday that it should have sought a solution
sooner is an abrupt shift in Samsung's stance and a form of vindication
for workers and their families.
Samsung vice chairman Kwon Oh-hyun
said the company, the world's largest maker of smartphones and memory
chips, will compensate workers and their families.
"We feel regret
that a solution for this delicate matter has not been found in a timely
manner, and we would like to use this opportunity to express our
sincerest apology to the affected people," Kwon, who oversees Samsung's
semiconductor and display panel businesses, said in an emailed
statement. Local news channels showed Kwon reading the statement before
reporters.
The Samsung statement comes a month after opposition
party lawmaker Sim Sang-jeung urged the government and Samsung to come
up with measures to help victims and prevent workplace diseases. The
resolution proposed by Sim in April said 114 of 243 workers sickened
since the 1990s were former Samsung semiconductor employees.
For
the past few years, Samsung has resisted calls to apologize. The company
also provided assistance to a government compensation agency in legal
battles over the agency's refusal to pay compensation to workers. In
South Korea, companies pay levies that the government uses to fund
compensation for workplace accidents and illnesses.
Courts have
ruled in favor of compensation in three of about a dozen cases. The
government agency, Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service,
appealed.
Kwon said Samsung will no longer be involved in the lawsuits.
Former Samsung workers, their families and civil groups struggled for years to raise awareness about the cancer cases.
Last
year, the story of Hwang Yu-mi, who died aged 23 from leukemia in 2007
and her father's legal battles, was made into a movie funded by
donations and brought more attention to the possible link between
conditions at Samsung's older factories and cancers in workers.
Sim,
the lawmaker, and SHARP, the advocacy group that helped Hwang's father
and the families of other victims, welcomed Samsung's apology and urged
the company to begin discussions about compensation.
Samsung
watchers say the cancer controversy is a sticking point that Lee
Kun-hee, Samsung's chairman and son of the group's founder, wants to
resolve before passing leadership to his own son. Lee, 72, is in
hospital in a stable condition after suffering a heart attack on
Saturday.
Samsung Electronics is a publicly traded company, but
its founding family still exerts considerable influence through
shareholdings in it and other companies that make up the larger Samsung
Group conglomerate. _ Huffington Post, 14/5/2014, Samsung Finally Apologizes To Workers Who Got Cancer While Making Chips
Samsung apologizes to sickened chip workers, promises compensation
SEOUL — Samsung Electronics on
Wednesday apologized and promised compensation to chip-factory workers
who suffered cancers linked to chemical exposure, a rare victory for
families and activists seven years after the death of a 23-year-old
employee from leukemia galvanized a movement to hold the company
accountable.
Samsung said the apology does not mean that it concedes a link
between the chemicals used in its chip factories and cancer and other
diseases. Still, the company’s statement that it should have sought a
solution sooner is an abrupt shift in Samsung’s stance and a form of
vindication for workers and their families. Samsung Vice Chairman Kwon
Oh-hyun said the company, the world’s largest maker of smartphones and
memory chips, will compensate workers and their families.
(Samsung Electronics Co. via AP) -
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Kwon Oh-hyun speaks at a briefing Wednesday in Seoul.
“We feel regret that a solution for this delicate matter has
not been found in a timely manner, and we would like to use this
opportunity to express our sincerest apology to the affected people,”
Kwon said in an e-mailed statement. Local news channels showed Kwon, who
oversees Samsung’s semiconductor and display panel businesses, reading
the statement before reporters.
The Samsung statement comes a
month after opposition-party lawmaker Sim Sang-jeung urged the
government and Samsung to come up with measures to help victims and
prevent workplace diseases. The resolution proposed by Sim in April said
114 of 243 workers sickened since the 1990s were former Samsung
semiconductor employees.
For the past few years, Samsung has
resisted calls to apologize. The company also provided assistance to a
government compensation agency in legal battles over the agency’s
refusal to pay compensation to workers. In South Korea, companies pay
levies that the government uses to fund compensation for workplace
accidents and illnesses.
Courts have ruled in favor of
compensation in three of about a dozen cases. The government agency,
Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service, appealed. Kwon said
Samsung will no longer be involved in the lawsuits.
Former Samsung
workers, their families and civil groups struggled for years to raise
awareness about the cancer cases. Last year, the story of Hwang Yu-mi,
who died of leukemia in 2007 and her father’s legal battles was made
into a movie funded by donations and brought more attention to the possible link between conditions at Samsung’s older factories and cancers in workers.
Sim,
the lawmaker, and Sharp, the advocacy group that helped Hwang’s father
and the families of other victims, welcomed Samsung’s apology and urged
the company to begin discussions about compensation.
Samsung
watchers say the cancer controversy is a sticking point that Lee
Kun-hee, Samsung’s chairman and son of the group’s founder, wants to
resolve before passing leadership to his own son. Lee, 72, was in a
hospital in stable condition after suffering a heart attack Saturday.
Samsung
Electronics is a publicly traded company, but its founding family
exerts considerable influence through shareholdings in it and other
companies that make up the larger Samsung Group conglomerate. - Washington Post, 15/5/2014, Samsung apologizes to sickened chip workers, promises compensation
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