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Samsung and Panasonic Accused Over Supply Chain Labour Abuses in Malaysia (theguardian.com)
Samsung and Panasonic, two of the world's leading electronics brands, are facing allegations that workers in their supply chains are being duped, exploited and underpaid in Malaysia. From a report on The Guardian: The two companies have launched investigations into allegations of abuse made by Nepalese workers after a Guardian investigation raised multiple concerns about their treatment. The men said they had been deceived about pay, had their passports confiscated and had been told that they must pay large fines if they wanted to return to Nepal before the end of their contract. They also claimed they were forced to work for up to 14 hours on their feet without adequate rest, and with restricted toilet breaks, in an attempt to settle recruitment fees of up to pound 1,000 -- they said they had to pay this money to secure their jobs. They said they felt "cheated" and trapped in their factory jobs making or assembling components for household electrical goods sold on the global market. "My heart is aching," said one young man who works in a factory making Samsung microwaves. "I was not given the job I was promised. I am doing very difficult work. I haven't got the salary they said I would get."
Samsung and Panasonic, two of the world's leading electronics brands, are facing allegations that workers in their supply chains are being duped, exploited and underpaid in Malaysia.
This is the *ONLY* reason you build a factory in Malaysia.
As the crown passes from Microsoft to Apple and now to Samsung for biggest computer company, so does the number of "scandal stories". Can't make it to the top without a pile of bodies to climb upon.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
it's not on Samsung or Panasonic, but the supplier who hires the workers.
Samsung and Panasonic should be auditing their supply chains, including inspection of supplier factories. That is basic corporate ethics, and is a necessity in our modern interconnected world. That being said, we shouldn't jump to any conclusions: Many accusations like this in the past have turned out to be fabricated.
But gig economy, and apps!
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Wat? You mean like,,, "fake news"???
Dear Microlimp: I give you 2 valid product keys for win7 and you reject both of them. Piss off you wankers!!!
Welcome to 21st century slavery.
http://www.vice.com/video/the-...
Silence is a state of mime.
Seriously though .... I'm not especially well versed in the details of Malaysian government, but it seems they're a Constitutional Monarchy.
As an American citizen, I've never felt that comfortable with a monarchy or any kind of dictatorship securing the rights and freedoms of individuals. At best, a "benevolent dictatorship" is just a temporarily condition, happened upon by the citizens as "pure luck". A monarchy where the appointed king or queen follows a constitution is better, assuming a well written constitution. But again, enforcement of it would fall to the discretion of the ruler, vs. a whole system of checks and balances to help ensure some of it takes place EVEN if the leader isn't too keen on enforcing it.
This unfortunate situation sounds like it's common practice in Malaysia right now, which tells me nobody with the ability to change it in government really has an interest in taking action to do so.
Before anyone rants about how this is an example of how free markets stink, let us be reminded that a key ingredient to free markets, whether they are the sales of the good or the hiring of the labor, is accurate information. Neither the laborers selling their labor nor the customers making the final purchases were much aware of what was going on here until it was too late. In a free (labor) market these people wouldn't be conned into slavery working there in the first place
I'm genuinely disappointed.
I've seen numerous internet articles showing the wide array and quality of Samsung campuses in South Korea, and I've always told my friends and coworkers to buy Samsung, because you're buying Korean, and you're voting for a company with a good track record of clean production facilities and high wages for workers.
I guess Samsung is just as bad as Apple. Or Nike. Or that company that built the Burj Khalifa. I wonder who built it...
Wikipedia.org...Burj Khalifa...
Oh, wait...
Well, that just ruined my day.
We need to do something about trade where works rights are not in place.
Could this be related?
The political science isn't.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
No, there's no king or queen in Malaysia. There's a Prime Minister though. But while there are elections in Malaysia, it's widely believed they are rigged and the whole political process is corrupt. They would be closer to an Authoritarian Democracy.
And the person in power stays in power - over 15 years ago, the opposition party leader was getting VERY popular with the people (who were sick and tired of the governing party). So just before the elections, said opposition leader is arrested and charged with homosexuality (and homosexual acts). Now, Malaysia is an Islamic country, so yes, they were forbidden.
The key evidence though was a "semen stained mattress". Last I heard (a couple of years back) it's STILL being fought in the courts. And this was around 1998 or so. Effectively he's being jailed until he keels over.
And the other part is who is allowed to vote - basically Malaysians (by race) only - if you're Chinese, Indian, etc., you're excluded from the vote.
If it makes our goods cheaper, who cares what they do? Most people seem to agree that cheap goods should be the #1 concern. If slaves can make thing cheaper, the pain they feel isn't as bad as the savings everyone else gets. On average, we are all better off. /s
Knowing something about the situation in Malaysia, I doubt the stories are fabricated, but I also doubt that a supply chain audit would have uncovered the issue, so I'm not sure Panasonic and Samsung really are to blame for the problem, though their pressure to correct the situation once it is uncovered will be valuable. Abuses of this type are rife in Malaysia, especially since the immigration dept clamped down on legal immigration for factory workers from Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries that formerly provided most of the immigrant workforce a couple of years ago, making it difficult for small and medium sized businesses to get the workforce they need to run their factory. But supply chain audits are announced in advance, so workers can be asked to stay home on that day (without pay) and the auditors do not have the access to immigration systems to authenticate any fake documentation that is presented to them.
One sad thing for the victims of the trafficking is that they will now be held in immigration detention facilities, under inhumane conditions, until fines are paid. The company that hired them will not have the money immediately available, and probably hired them under a contract from an agent that is explicitly designed to give all parties some level of deniability for responsibility for the immigration status of the employees, so they are prepared to drag the case to court, extending the detention period of their victims for many months. Pressure should be put on Panasonic and Samsung to at least pay fines in advance so the workers can be deported back to their home country and resume their lives, hopefully wiser now, and able to spread the word around their village about the real situations that the agents are selling them into.
Sorry having read TFA now, I have to take back the bit about supply chain audit not being able to uncover the issue. These were not workers in a smaller factory supplying components to Samsung and Panasonic as the summary makes it out to be, they were working directly in the companies factories, hired through a labour supply agency. The factory HR dept needs to be sacked and replaced with people who know what labour laws are, and why they should be followed.