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Why Samsung’s China Labor Problem Might Be Worse Than Apple’s

You may have heard by now that Samsung is the latest target of labor rights groups who have shifted their focus on multinational activity in China into overdrive. The proximate cause of this increased activity is, of course, the success of these groups with Apple and its supplier Foxconn. As I’ve written about several times, investigations of several Foxconn factories uncovered numerous labor violations, forcing Apple into a defensive posture, which culminated in its welcoming in the Fair Labor Association to perform audits and keep a “scorecard” as Foxconn set about reforming its internal systems. I wrote about the FLA’s mid-term report card recently. Act II, apparently, is Samsung. Slightly ironic that Samsung and Apple are currently locked in an international death-by-patent fight. I suppose that when court is in recess, their respective legal teams can go outside, smoke a ciggie, and commiserate about labor activists and China. As the second target, Samsung should expect a drop-off in the attention of the public and the outrage of folks who follow labor rights issues closely. There is also a major political event that will take place several weeks from now in China that should suck some of the air out of just about any China-related news story. However, while Apple may have taken the biggest hits from the public due to its being the first target, Samsung shouldn’t breath a sigh of relief just yet. Taking these allegations as true (for the moment), there are three reasons why this might end up being worse for Samsung than it was for Apple. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: China | Company: Samsung, Apple, Hon-Hai-Precision-Industry (Foxconn)  | Source: Business Insider

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