Following controversy that lasted 11-years, Samsung has finally apologised for creating an unsafe work environment that resulted in a number of former employees contracting leukaemia and other cancers. The company pledged that the affected workers would be compensated by 2028. This came after the company reached a final settlement with Banolim, a group representing ex-Samsung workers and their families.
According to a news conference held in Seoul, South Korea, The president of Samsung’s device solutions division, Kinam Kim, has admitted that Samsung failed to “sufficiently manage health threats” in its semiconductor and liquid crystal display manufacturing facilities. Sharps, a Korean activist organization, has documented more than 200 individual cases of workers suffering from illness after working at a Samsung plant. To which about 70 of those workers died. It is pertinent to point out that the controversy started in 2007 when taxi driver Hwang Sang-gi refused to accept a settlement from the company for the death of his 23-year-old daughter, who died from leukaemia
after working at a Samsung plant. Samsung admitted to failing to respond to issues in its plants in 2014 and launch a fund that will pay out 100 billion won ($85.8 million) to compensate employees exposed to dangerous working conditions in 2015.Photo Credit: Getty
