To prepare a box with mobile phone battery charger, headset and two instruction manuals, employee of the Samsung factory located in Zona Franca de Manaus has only six seconds. After this step, the package is transferred to the employee following the assembly line, who’s mission is to scan the package at two different points and then paste stickers. In a single day, the task gets to be repeated up to 6,800 times by the same worker, as seen on the website Reporter Brasil.
One of the factories built by the multinational of South Korean origin, in 2012 reported record a net income of $ 22.3 billion. Here a TV is placed in a cardboard box every 4.8 seconds and the assembly of a smartphone, made by dozens of workers arranged along the production line takes 85 seconds. Whereas, One split air-conditioner is ready in less than two minutes.
According to Reporter Brasil, Brazil’s Ministry of Labor has filed a lawsuit against the Korean company for poor working conditions in the smartphone assembly plant located in Zona Franca de Manaus. Accusations include few chairs to sit on, excessive work hours without rest and an excess of health problems.
In a statement to the Brazilian publication, Samsung says
it will cooperate fully with authorities and have pledged to ensure “the highest industry standards regarding safety, health and well-being.”
Due to the health risks of the employees imposed by the fast pace and the repetitive activity of the assembly line, The government sued for a collective moral damages of at least U.S. $ 250 million from Samsung.
Samsung was prosecuted in Brazil in 2011 over poor working conditions. It has also been accused of hiring children in China and faced a flurry of lawsuits in South Korea from workers seeking compensation for health hazards at its factories.
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