FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK -- In response to the report CLW published on HEG, Samsung has stated CLW did not publish information Samsung gave to CLW in earlier emails. However, the emails to which Samsung is referring included a confidentiality clause, so CLW abstained from publishing the information within.
After CLW shared the evidence of child and student labor at HEG with Samsung last week, Samsung conducted an inspection beginning last Friday. Samsung responded to CLW on Monday, August 25, claiming that they did not find any child labor at the factory. Samsung also claimed that their were no student workers at HEG were employed on Samsung’s production line.
The follow-up conducted by Samsung did not fully address the information that CLW initially provided to Samsung. Samsung could have verified the IDs of these child workers and carry out further follow-up, including the confirmation of the address on their IDs. We also find it regrettable that Samsung simply conducted an audit-like inspection of the factory. HEG had already dismissed these child workers before Samsung arrived.
In regards to student workers at HEG, CLW’s investigators confirmed that some of the student workers made Samsung products at HEG while others made Lenovo products. One of those students was a 19-year old female college student who told CLW Executive Director Li Qiang that she was making Samsung products. After CLW provided information about this student to Samsung, we failed to contact her again. She also cut off the contact with CLW’s executive director on QQ.
The recent CLW press release and link to the report on labor violations uncovered at Samsung and Lenovo supplier HEG in Huizhou can be read here.
About China Labor Watch
Founded in 2000, China Labor Watch is an independent not-for-profit organization. For more than a decade, CLW has collaborated with labor organizations and the media to conduct in-depth assessments of factories in China that produce toys, bikes, shoes, furniture, clothing, and electronics for some of the world’s largest brand companies. CLW’s New York office creates reports from these investigations, educates the international community on supply chain labor issues, and pressures corporations to improve conditions for workers.
Contact
(For English)
Kevin Slaten
Program Coordinator, China Labor Watch
E-mail: clw@chinalaborwatch.org
Phone: +001 212-244-4049
147 W 35 St Ste 406
New York, NY 10001
(For Chinese)
Li Qiang
Executive Director, China Labor Watch
E-mail: clw@chinalaborwatch.org
Phone: +001 212-244-4049