It looks like Brazil may not be the only country where Samsung workers are treated unfairly. We received an email a few hours ago, mentioning that conditions are as bad, if not worse, in Slovakia at Samsung Display, the Samsung group responsible for manufacturing and assembling displays. It seems the issue is ongoing for a few years now, and that workers are made to work in extreme temperatures without being offered any water, aren't allowed to go empty their bladders, and the like.
According to a Samsung Display worker, the workers are threatened against speaking to the media about the issues, especially after a serious incident where one man in his 50s died from cardiac arrest after being forced to complete his shift even after he had resigned. It sounds made-up to us, but if true, it's an evil the Slovakian government should look into as soon as possible.
Here's the quoted text from the email, explaining some of the horrid conditions:
1. Even though the temperature outside the factory was 40 degrees centigrade or more, the factory wasn't on A/C, nor did they provide water for the poor workers, nor did they let them go to toilet.
2. Some workers peed or pood themselves, because their teamleaders shouted at them that if they don't stay on the production line, they will get fired.
3. Dress code must have been adhered to, even when the temperature went past the legal limit.
4. After I posted an article about this issue, the employer, Samsung Display started to threaten its employees. They said that if they catch someone speaking to media, they will be fired effective immediately.
5. Many comments (400+) + emails suggest that this is an ongoing issue and has been for many years.
6. One email in particular is sickening. One man in his 50s was working for Samsung Display, he resigned that they but had to finish that particular shift. Because he was so exhausted, he went into cardiac arrest and eventually died. They didn't even call an ambulance, instead, they put im into the box, covered him and waited for the shift to finish. When local TVs turned up, they said that they can't let them in, because they manufacturing secret could be uncovered. WHAT?
7. The toilet issue is really bothering women. If they have peroid, they should be allowed to go to toilet more often than twice a day. In some cases, they are marked like jews during the second world war, but this time because they have peroid, so the teamleader know they can go to toilet more oftne. This highly personal thing is then revealed to everybody. I still cannot understand how this can be going on.
8. PHYSICAL punishment isn't anything new. Korean bosses are known to walk around with a stick a whipping their workers if they don't do it properly. Even worse than that, verbal abuse is what makes this work unbearable. Swear words, threats like “I will kill you” are heard on regular basis.
To be honest, these allegations seem a bit far-fetched, but considering all companies care about are profits and sales, these allegations might just be true. It's odd that the story hasn't been picked up more widely, which we hope is because the story has been manufactured and has little truth to back it up.
What do you guys think? Have any of our Slovakian readers heard ramblings of workers being treated like this in Samsung's factories?
