Samsung fails to eliminate Chinese labour violations

Samsung Electronics’ Chinese suppliers have continued to commit legal and safety violations that the company had vowed to eliminate by the end of 2012, the technology company revealed.

In its annual “sustainability report”, Samsung divulged the results of an independent audit that it commissioned after admitting violations by its suppliers in September 2012. Working conditions have become a vulnerable point for the group, the world’s largest technology company by sales, which has been hit by a series of damaging allegations about its Chinese supply chain from the non-profit group China Labor Watch. Separately, South Korean courts have determined a link between some Samsung employees’ working conditions and subsequent terminal illness, sparking controversy in the company’s home market.