Confronting OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH Problems IN the Electronics Industry THROUGH AN International EFFORT to REDUCE Cellphone Purchases

The Samsung Group has emerged as one of the world's largest and most powerful multinational corporations. In 2010, its total assets amounted to more than US$340 billion, with annual revenues of about US$220 billion and annual income of US$21 billion. Samsung focuses on electronics, but it also owns subsidiaries that deal with shipbuilding, telecommunications, construction projects, insurance and financial services, chemicals, retail stores, entertainment, clothing, and medical services. Samsung has received wide criticism from organizations concerned about public health, labor rights, the environment, and fair trade. In particular, the company's long-standing policy that prohibits union organizing has attracted critical attention. Another major struggle has focused on Samsung's record in workers' health. For instance, occupational health researchers and activists have called attention to clusters of leukemia and other cancers among Samsung's South Korean electronics workers. In 2012, Samsung ranked third in a major report on the world's most dangerous corporations. To improve Samsung's practices, one effort targets organizations that purchase Samsung products. Such an organization, Credomobile, buys Samsung cellphones that it provides “free” or sells to its subscribers. This collaboration with Samsung appears to contradict Credomobile's “progressive” corporate policies that support labor rights, public health, and environmental justice. This presentation will review systematically the results of several research projects that demonstrate deleterious occupational health consequences of Samsung's policies. In addition, the session will explore strategies to change those policies, including international efforts to influence U.S.-based organizations that buy Samsung's products.