Samsung accepts workers developed cancer after working at factories

World’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer and chipmaker, Samsung Electronics has accepted some workers developed cancer after working at its semiconductor factories.

TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the electronics giant on Friday apologised to the workers, finally putting to an end a decade-long dispute at the world’s top chipmaker.

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“We sincerely apologise to the workers who suffered from illness and their families. We have failed to properly manage health risks at our semiconductor and LCD factories,” co-president Kim Ki-nam said.

According to campaign groups, about 240 people have suffered from work-related illnesses after working at Samsung semiconductor and display factories, with around 80 of them dying.

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Under a deal announced earlier this month, Samsung Electronics will pay the group’s employees compensation of up to $133,000 per case.

Compensation covers 16 types of cancer, some other rare illnesses, miscarriages and congenital diseases suffered by the workers’ children.

Claimants can have worked at plants as far back as 1984.

The scandal emerged in 2007 when former workers at its semiconductor and display factories in Suwon, south of Seoul, and their families said that staff had been diagnosed or died of various forms of cancer.

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A series of rulings and decisions by courts, Seoul’s state labour welfare agency and a mediation committee followed over more than 10 years, culminating in Friday’s announcement.

 

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