Samsung, Chinese workers, and labour rights

By Chris MacDonald  | September 07, 2012

Samsung headquarters in Seoul, South Korea (Photo: Oskar Alexanderson/Wikimedia)

China Labour Watch, an NGO, reported that two major companies, Samsung and Apple have mistreated employees and rights of the employees within factories in China. In particular, China Labour Watch noted that Samsung had recorded 100 hours of overtime in a month; children under 16 working in factories; failure to provide safety clothing where appropriate and other questionable practices. The focus of the article turns towards the ambiguity of the definition of “too much overtime” as workers in factories of Apple want additional overtime. However, the article states that rights of a worker is clear as Samsung workers were not given a mechanism in which to voice out complaints. The China Labour Watch stated that this was a breach of ethics.

The ethical question is whether or not it is ethical for multinational businesses to profit from exploiting cheaper labour and lax labour laws. More specifically, is it ethical for employees to work more than 100 hours of overtime in a month, regardless of whether they request it or not?

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/blog/business_ethics/97780–samsung-chinese-workers-and-labour-rights