Behind the Scenes With Samsung's Factory Workers

itwbennett writes "The young women working at Samsung's factory in Tianjin, China like their jobs about as much as factory workers anywhere. The work is boring and tiring, but it pays ok and there are perks (like air conditioning in the dorms), says 19-year-old Zhao Caixia. One 23-year-old woman, who assembles 200-300 camera lenses a day, told the IDG News Service's Michael Kan: 'You just keep doing the same thing over and over. There is nothing really to like, but nothing to really dislike either.' Labor rights group China Labor Watch tells a different story (PDF). One day after Samsung said it would audit its suppliers in China, the group reported cases of excessive overtime (exceeding 100 hours per month) and exhausting working conditions, with employees being made to stand for up to 12 hours for a single shift."

Comments

I might be out of scope here

[dyingtolive]

But I'm pretty sure that when I lived in crapsack podunk land as a teenager, I had stood for 12 hours in a single shift working at the shithole state fair cleaning barns for not much more than minimum wage.

Re:I might be out of scope here

[formfeed]

even in my company 12 hour shifts are common, in the hearland of the USA ... boo who for the Asians?

At least you had the chance to vote for politicians that kill unions, defund OSHA, and turn the US into a third world country.

Re:I might be out of scope here

[hawguy]

even in my company 12 hour shifts are common, in the hearland of the USA ... boo who for the Asians?

I worked construction for a few summers after high school -- 12 hour shifts weren't uncommon (on my feet the whole time), and I took all the overtime I could get, sometimes putting in 80 hours or more of overtime a month (six 10 hour days/week), If I didn't have to drive up to 90 minutes each way to the job site on the other side of the state, I probably would have put in more overtime. When I was lucky, I'd get to drive an escort vehicle for a wide-load truck on my way to or from the job site so I'd rack up a couple hours of work while driving to work).

It was hard work, but I still found time to party with friends on the weekends, and the work paid most of my first two years of college.

Re:I might be out of scope here

[dyingtolive]

My work experience now is somewhat different. For being with a company where I directly support stock market traders, the atmosphere is entirely laid back. I'm salaried, but if I work more than eight hours a day (which is usually out of personal interest in what I'm doing) I typically have my boss or someone nagging me to go home. I actually spend some time working on an urgent issue over a weekend a couple weeks ago of my own volition, and when I told my boss that Monday, he became really concerned that I had to put in some extra time (i.e. what broke and is it still broke), and then told me to feel free to take off however much I needed to make it back up to myself. I found out later I got put in for some "above and beyond" recognition thing for giving enough of a damn to make sure that stuff isn't falling apart around me.

We all talk doom and gloom, but at the end of the day, it's really not completely impossible to find a company that will actually hesitate before immediately and always treating their workers like shit. Of course, having that been said, I've had completely opposite experiences at other (and much shorter lived) jobs.

Re:I might be out of scope here

[Electricity Likes Me]

even in my company 12 hour shifts are common, in the hearland of the USA ... boo who for the Asians?

I worked construction for a few summers after high school -- 12 hour shifts weren't uncommon (on my feet the whole time), and I took all the overtime I could get, sometimes putting in 80 hours or more of overtime a month (six 10 hour days/week), If I didn't have to drive up to 90 minutes each way to the job site on the other side of the state, I probably would have put in more overtime. When I was lucky, I'd get to drive an escort vehicle for a wide-load truck on my way to or from the job site so I'd rack up a couple hours of work while driving to work).

It was hard work, but I still found time to party with friends on the weekends, and the work paid most of my first two years of college.

Two things: (1) this was more or less your choice, and you were rewarded for it with bonus pay to boot. Even if your employer had made it clear at certain times they needed everyone to put in some overtime, you would've had to be paid for it at least.

(2) you were in high school. You can do a lot of really over the top physical feats while in high school, and it's easy. It's a very different thing to being a whole career, and different again to the sort of advancement opportunities you had.

Re:I might be out of scope here

[drhank1980]

I work in the USA for a company that makes chips for Samsung amongst others. Our normal shift is 12 hours on your feet in the fab. (on a compressed schedule, 4 days on 3 days off and then 3 days on and 4 days off, and yes I know China is doing 6/7 days a week as the norm but I also know the quality can/will suffer as we are still cheaper than our outsourced competition for their lack of quality and consistency on a cost per good die metric). Its great money for those of us who work it and many of us sign up for overtime on our days off.

Also more to the point of the article, if you are doing inspections for 12 hours in a row on anything complex, you will suck as an inspector and I would hope Samsung would not accept this as a practice in China (or anywhere for that matter) for the interest of QA for their products but maybe I am asking too much.

Re:I might be out of scope here

[hawguy]

Two things: (1) this was more or less your choice, and you were rewarded for it with bonus pay to boot. Even if your employer had made it clear at certain times they needed everyone to put in some overtime, you would've had to be paid for it at least.

It was my choice in that if I didn't work there, I would have had a minimum wage job at McDonalds - with overtime hours at the construction job, I ended up getting paid over 5 times more than I would have made at McDonalds.

So, I had a choice, but the other choice was less desirable. Sort of a like a chinese factory worker deciding between a hard life on the farm or a hard life (but more comfortable) in the factory.

(2) you were in high school. You can do a lot of really over the top physical feats while in high school, and it's easy. It's a very different thing to being a whole career, and different again to the sort of advancement opportunities you had.

I was 18 - 20 when I worked that job - not much different in age than the 19 and 23 year olds quoted in the summary.

If someone chooses building camera lenses on an assembly line as a career, there's more than Samsung to blame.

I'm not saying that working conditions in China are cushy, but saying that 12 hours/day and 25 hours of overtime/week is worker abuse ignores the fact that there are a lot of people in "developed" countries that work those same hours. If they are not getting compensated for that work, have unsafe conditions, don't have adequate breaks, etc, then that's different, but long hours don't automatically equate to worker abuse.

Re:I might be out of scope here

[silentcoder]

> they are not getting compensated for that work, have unsafe conditions, don't have adequate breaks, etc, then that's different, but long hours don't automatically equate to worker abuse.

Actually - it does, to the extend where even in some developing countries (like mine) there is a law that can send managers to jail if they ALLOW a worker to do more than 40 hours overtime a week.
The legal reasoning is pretty sound - anybody who is working that much overtime (even with the required 1.5X pay) is either under duress or is harming himself (and more importantly harming and risking the lives of others) to an unacceptable degree. I the idea that anybody who has worked a 16 hour day is safe to drive home is just outright ludicrous. Preventing that is no more an infringement of liberty than to say you can't drive drunk.

Either way - yes, it IS worker abuse. The fact that this worker abuse happens in developing nations as well just proves that the problem is wide-spread it doesn't mean it's not a problem.

I notice a common thread here - everyone of these "I used to work 12-hour days too" posts have something in common: they all did it when their career choices were limited.
In my view the idea that it was "just how I got my success when I started out" is stupid. That's trying to feel good about not standing up for yourself back then.
No - the difference is - if your boss tried to demand that now, you would probably tell him to shove his job since you've got the qualifications and education to get another one (which will probably pay MORE than what you are earning now). Back then you didn't - and somebody exploited your lack of options.

The 40 hour work-week wasn't just made up. It began with ath 1895 May Day riots in New York, which would subsequently lead to the yearly celebration of worker's day internationally. Those strikes and riots were specifically about getting the 40-hour work-week. The people who led the organisation got framed for murder (which they were subsequently proven absolutely innocent off) - and received summary executions (back then the USA did that).
Good people died so you could have the right to demand extra pay for overtime, they died so you could refuse it, they died so you could see your family at night, so you could get a night's rest, so you could have a social life and not JUST a work life.
I think it's important that their death not be in vain because you take pride in your work. Taking pride in your work is fine, it's nobel, but so is damn well insisting that you will go home at the end of the day.

Re:I might be out of scope here

[flimflammer]

I don't think it's anyone's business but mine if I want to accept working 80 hours a week. No one is forcing me (if your employer was forcing you then that would be different). The thought that my manager could be sent to jail if I lived where you did over a decision of my own making is what sounds ludicrous to me. Those kind of hours saved me on more than one occasion, and despite stints of varied length working 9am to 10pm at that job, I was never in any danger driving home. Sure if if those kind of hours were physically demanding I could see a problem, but sitting at a desk, or even an assembly line?

Re:I might be out of scope here

[DJRumpy]

For starters, Unions don't implode of their own volition, so they don't exactly kill themselves. That leaves politicians, or bad management and the management of unions is done via voting on policy by the body. In other words, it's a democratic process, controlled by it's members.

Since unions represent the workers, it affects a businesses bottom line, so naturally business hates unions and unions hate business attempts to reap profits at the expense of employees. That said they both understand that they must mutually coexist, and as a result, they each get something from the other in a relatively balanced situation.

You probably had Monday off as a result of Unions. You also get to call in sick without losing your job, and if you are a non-name tag worker, chances are you have paid leave, sick time, and vacation. You can thank unions for that. Days off. Yep; Unions.

The GOP loves to vilify unions because the GOP represents big business. They always have. It is transparent for anyone who steps outside of a certain news channel to see. That in and of itself is fine, but they shouldn't pretend that unions are something they are not. They have existed in the us for a hundred years, and we ended up with the strongest economy on the planet. Reagan started killing them, and now look at where we are.

Do I believe the killing of unions is solely responsible for this? No, but the fact that we built our economy on unions and came to the top spot (again with unions), kind of discredits your idea that they are evil. They have existed in the U.S. for over a hundred years. Also, kindly post any real link where a democrat was demanding free bread, and circuses? If you can't find one, please leave the rhetoric at the door. Its about time people started acting like adults when it comes to politics.

Last but not least regarding government unions. I hate to break it to you, but those employees are also Americans. They have the same rights as you. They pay the same bills. They vote, have children, inherit, and eventually die. Claiming they are somehow a 'subclass' of worker is disingenuous at best and outright contrary to democratic principals at it's worst.

yea but

[Osgeld]

what do you expect?

its a factory assembly job with very low entry requirements, just like everywhere else, you do your thing, all day every day, for a modest pay that can support your family if your not living beyond your means.

surprise!

now if we can get Americans to accept that "detailing cars" is not a 50$ an hour job maybe we can regain our strength

Re:yea but

[mug funky]

NO! this is just the attitude that has destroyed the western work ethic!

instead of telling them to get off our lawn, we should ask them to mow it.

Wait...

[tooyoung]

Why would we care about working conditions at a non-Apple factory?

Re:Wait...

[tooyoung]

Ah, I can answer my own question - Samsung makes some parts for Apple. I see what you're doing. Those slimy bastards.

Looks like patent infringement to me

[bhcompy]

I mean, Apple invented near slave labor conditions in China to build iProducts. Pretty sure Apple should take them to court for infringing on the "method of using Chinese for slave labor to build electronic devices while also increasing the suicide rate" patent

Re:Apple

[__aaltlg1547]

The real reason for the rounded corners: So workers can't slash their wrists with an iPad.

The Alternatives

[jeko]

Menial factory work at least gives them something to do, even if their lives exist solely for someone else's profit.

Boom. There. Right there. There's your problem. If you're a fellow American, if you're a fellow member of Western Civilization, how does that not offend you to your core? "Their lives exist solely for someone else's profit" is the working definition of slavery. How can you possibly find this to be an acceptable situation?

Improvement of conditions, reasonable work hours via Government mandate

Which is how we ended child labor and instituted the 40 hour work week in this country, BTW...

Great, except that this will rise the cost of the products created and the costs will naturally be passed onto consumers in first-world countries.

Common misconception. Prices are set not by what the costs of production are but by what the market will bear. Ever hear a company say, "Our costs allow us to make a 300% markup, but we felt that amount of profit was unconscionable, so we marked the price down..."?Rising production costs don't get passed on to the consumer because the price is already set at the maximum the market will allow.

The electronics we buy are as cheap as they are precisely in a large part due to the slave work done in countries far away from us. Would people complain if prices went up as conditions in said countries improved? Damn right they would, unfortunately.

God Help Us, then let them complain. Let's call this the "Papa John" principle. When Papa John complained last month that providing his workers with healthcare would cost an extra quarter per pizza, the first thing that came to my mind was "Cool. You mean I can ensure my pizza guy doesn't have tuberculosis for an extra quarter? What can we get those poor guys if I kick in fifty cents?"

Seriously, if I pay an extra 20 bucks for my iPhone, I can eliminate slavery in China? Good grief. Bill me. If I kick in $40, can I free the North Koreans too?

Re:The Alternatives

[subreality]

If you're a fellow American, if you're a fellow member of Western Civilization, how does that not offend you to your core? "Their lives exist solely for someone else's profit" is the working definition of slavery. How can you possibly find this to be an acceptable situation?

Americans live to work, not work to live. In our own country we only get two to three weeks off a year, work relatively long hours (40 hours a week is considered a bare minimum slacker level, compared to most of the rest of western civilization where it's considered working yourself to death, let alone the 60-80 hours that MANY Americans have to work), and are completely dependent on staying employed lest we have no health coverage, yet we have poor job security even when we're being good little wage slaves.

That's how it is for lower and most middle class Americans; the upper-middle class at least has some savings to give themselves some safety net, but it's pretty much just how life is for the proverbial 99%.

Compare this to the Tianjin workers in TFA. It's different in degree, but that's not shocking when comparing a thoroughly post-industrialized nation with a developing one.

I'm not saying the situation is acceptable in either case. I'm just not surprised that people aren't outraged when it's not that fundamentally different from the conditions at home.

Re:Are you sure?

[hawguy]

I worked construction for a few summers after high school -- 12 hour shifts weren't uncommon (on my feet the whole time)

Come again, buddy??

I worked in construction sites every summer during my college years, for I desperately needed money to pay for books and food and shelter

From scaffolding to steel framing high rises, never did I have to be on my feet for the entire 12 hour shift

Which job were you in, buddy?

I worked for a heavy construction company, primarily doing road construction - doing things like shoveling asphalt that fell out of the paver, raking down stone to level it, pressure washing mud off the heavy equipment before loading it for transport to another job site, directing trucks to dump their load where it was needed, subbing in for flagman when needed, etc. About the only time I got to sit down was when I had to drive to pick up parts or, when I was lucky, get a cushy job escorting heavy/wide loads.

Re:kids with jobs!

[jeko]

Hey Farm Boy,

You and I probably have similar blue-collar backgrounds and work histories, and I have the scars on my back and face to prove it. We're not talking about kids there feeding the goats and collecting eggs. We're not talking about the double-bit ax I was handed at eight years old. We're talking situations closer to ones we had in America, where we sent small children into coal mines because it was cheaper to dig exploratory tunnels that could only fit little kids instead of a full-grown man. A lot of those little boys didn't make it out when their makeshift tunnels collapsed on them. Underage labor in China doesn't mean we sent the kid out under the Texas sun to clear the field. Underage labor in China is a lot more "Oliver Twist" than "The Waltons."

But let's consider your experience. Just because you and I have had hardscrabble lives, does that mean it was right, or does that mean we think our kids should follow in our footsteps? My grandfather never finished grade school. My father had a tractor roll over on him and shatter his leg in several places. He walked with a noticable limp for the rest of his life because of a lack of proper medical care. I can tell you in exquisite detail what blood and bone tastes like and what a shot fired in anger at your head sounds like as it whizzes by.

Sure, we're all badasses here. But is this what we want for our kids? I got a handful of my own, and if my boys went their entire lives without making a fist and meaning it, that would suit me just fine.

Maybe it was the time I spent as a teacher, maybe it the result of being a father for so long, but I find my paternal insticts grow as I get older. Little kids, whether they're mine or not, are little kids. I don't wanna hear about kids in China being worked to death in God-forsaken pits any more than I'd like to hear about the same being done to mine.