back to article Samsung to probe claims of underage workers, abuse at supplier

Samsung has said that it will probe allegations that one of its suppliers employs underage workers. The South Korean company's investigators are slated to arrive in China today. The New York-based China Labour Watch (CLW) released a report (PDF) earlier this week claiming that in three investigations during June and July, it …

COMMENTS

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  1. Rodrigo Valenzuela

    Apple was accused of something similar, not exactly the same, but similar.

    Will they be suing Samsung?

    R

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's a supplier not the company itself.

      Both Samsung and Apple can't have an employee permanently in a suppliers workplace to ensure compliance.

      When you order something from China do you fly out there yourself and inspect the premises yourself? of course not.

      1. chris lively
        FAIL

        Both Samsung and apple are multibillion dollar companies. I'm pretty sure they could keep inspectors onsite at all of their suppliers 24x7 without a problem.

    2. Blue Buddha

      @Rodrigo

      "Will they be suing Samsung?"

      Don't you mean "Will they suing the HEG-rebrander?"

      1. Peter Storm

        Re: @Rodrigo

        "Will they suing the HEG-rebrander?" or it could be "Will they suing the maker of knock-off iphones"

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Please Rodrigo grow up, lest you'll find yourself working for a Samsung supplier.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I was about to ask the same thing.

      They do seem to be copying Apple's working conditions.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      To be referred to in documentation as comfort women.

    6. Mike Judge
      Stop

      Nothing similar at all.

      This is one of the thousands of component suppliers Samsung use.

      Apple's sole manufacturing partner were exploiting child slave labour

      BIG DIFFERENCE.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "The non-profit group said that it found seven kids under 16 working...."

    Now those 7 families may not be able to eat! No one knows what the story is. Those kids may be supporting their families and preventing them may do more harm than good.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I never thought of that...

      How can I get in touch with a poor family in China or India who'll ship me their 12-year-old child to work in my garden, clean my house, do the washing etc (they can sleep in the garden shed)? Obviously I'd send their wages ($1 a day) straight home to their family, and then I'd be doing my bit to help third world poverty - in fact, if we all employed a child from India or China then that could be a major step to completely eliminating poverty in those countries.

  3. Alan B
    FAIL

    What a brilliant idea

    Tell the world well in advance that you are going to inspect the factory so the factory bosses will have plenty of time to get the children out of the way so nothing untoward appears to be going on.

    Surely it would be far better to say nothing and simply walk in unannounced!

    1. Peter Storm

      Re: What a brilliant idea

      Very true, but that would imply they actually gave a shit.

  4. Brian 3
    Joke

    "Samsung to probe underage workers, abuse at supplier" - There, fixed it!

    1. CmdrX3
      Thumb Down

      Sorry, not laughing

      Some things are funny, others are most definitely not. Child labour abuse is not funny, and "fixing" the story to suggest child sexual abuse is most definitely not. Major fail of a joke in my opinion.

  5. toadwarrior

    It's all well and good that they're now picking on samsung as well as apple but still they're not the only companies. We need to be pointing the finger at all companies using questionable labour practises or illegal labour. I realise the list will be long but picking on one or two companies isn't going to change anything.

  6. Dan Paul
    Devil

    Only way to compete with scum is to become scum. If you buy from scum what are you?

    Once the door to "low cost labor markets" is opened, it cannot be shut. Anyone who needs to compete with the kind of scum that use child labor (All companies doing business in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, India etc, etc) will become scum. There is no choice in those countries as this behaviour is part of their culture to sell their children into effective slavery just as was done during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the US and Great Brittain. Then we finally decided it was wrong and found other places to send our work to, that weren't so "Cultured" or "High Minded".

    We outlawed Indentured Servitude only to see it become rampant in other countries. Small wonder.

    However, our moral compass does not seem to be too outraged to buy products made by these scum.

  7. Tom 35

    So...

    We will be around on 9 August to make sure there are no kids working there.

    Bet they don't find any kids.

    I expect they make advance appointments for the inspections all the time.

  8. John A Blackley

    "A team of inspectors consisting of Samsung personnel from Korea headquarters will be dispatched to Huizhou, China on 9 August."

    You have until then to hide the kids.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Samsung to probe young kids...

    That seems like a very appropriate title for child slave labor.

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