May 2017

…The methanol poisoning case clearly shows the reality of insecure employment, in particular, the precarious supply chain structure exploited by big conglomerates in Korean society. Lead companies such as Samsung and LG Electronics take no responsibility for risks though they benefit from the structure enabling them to use workforce at a minimum cost…

Once again, we strongly demand Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to recognize their responsibility and come to social dialogue with the victims and civil society organizations. The two big companies acknowledged the victims were producing parts for their cell phones. Nevertheless, they claim their supervision responsibility is only limited to their first-tier suppliers which have direct contract with them in the multi-layered subcontracting structure. Samsung and LG should be aware of that their stance is going against the international trends of expecting business enterprises to respect human rights across their supply chain.