In 2014 pressure became to great to fight and the South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung finally had to apologise to workers who became terminally ill from cancer in its electronic chip factories. Samsung promised time and compensation payments.
146 workers were suffering from rare cancer and some died.1
But today many of the affected workers are still waiting for their compensation. Under Samsung’s new deputy chairman, Lee Jae-Yong, a compensation fund for victims was set up, for those who worked between 1996 and 2011 in certain areas of the company. In autumn 2015, the first 30 workers were compensated under the condition to take no further legal action against Samsung.
Other workers, however refuse to accept this condition. In cases that have been negotiated already in court, it was found that the cancers were most likely caused by the substances in the Samsung factories.
This matches the scientific evidence and assessment of Richard Clapp, a professor at Boston University that international standards were not followed in handling chemical substances. He has found significantly increased cancer rates among workers of another electronics manufacturer in his studies.
Other incidents, like a gas outlet with a death toll in a Samsung factory in 2013, also point to a lack of safety standards2.
This contrasts studies commissioned by the factories themselves stating that official limits of radiation and toxic chemicals were no exceeded.
It is again time to bring attention to this issue to push forward compensation for the victims.
- facing-finance.org:Samsung entschuldigt sich bei krebskranken Mitarbeitern, http://www.facing-finance.org/de/2014/05/deutsch-samsung-entschuldigt-sich-bei-krebskranken-mitarbeitern/, 20.05.2014, aufgerufen am 02.11.2015 [↩]
- Ft.com: Former workers pressure Samsung over deadly illnesses, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f2041826-7ba9-11e5-93c6-bba4b4b36134.html#axzz3qKI35P00, 10.27.2015, called on 02.11.2015 [↩]