Workers Riot at Samsung Factory Site

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It looks like Samsung might be trying to give Foxconn a run for its money in the riot department. Thanks to everyone that sent this one in.

Workers building a massive Samsung factory in Vietnam battled police and torched motorbikes on Thursday, in a rare outbreak of labor violence in the tightly controlled country. Eleven people were injured in the incident, which Samsung said occurred after a disagreement between workers and security guards over safety protocols at the site.
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Samsung is the #1 consumer electronics maker in the world and not because their products are the best. Far from it.

I have been against them since the old days because of their low price crap they put on the market. (Use to be in the electronics business, hated Samsung. It was always junk.)
I never owned a Samsung ANYTHING until recently.
It was time for new phone and the best all around deal we could find was StraightTalk and the up front purchase of a Samsung Galaxy Centura for $99.
The only real complaint I can say it the 800Mhz processor is too slow for a a lot of the apps out there but overall it is pretty descent. But for what I paid it is a descent phone.
So Meh; so much for principals. Apple phones were too expensive and I didn't want the weird off-brand phone they I have never heard of before.
 
Working building the factory and Samsung workers are too different things.

BTW Love my S4 and all my Samsung TVs
 
I've seen a few failed Samsung monitors and TVs such that I am wary. I read that they cheap out a bit on components, but need this confirming, I should have taking the displays apart and had a look.
However, I'm running an 840 Pro SSD and have to say its fantastic.
I just hope it lasts.
Lab testing of the 840 EVO (with theoretically lower life TLC) flew the reliability tests, so I'm hopeful.

But yeah, this thread isnt really about Samsung workers.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
[...] it is a descent phone.
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A Descent phone? That'd be awesome! I used to love that game.
Descent.png
 
rudedog said:
Working building the factory and Samsung workers are too different things.
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Just make sure that the same standard is used when there is an issue building a Foxconn factory ;)

dealing with construction workers outside the USA is extraordinarily difficult ... I remember talking to a safety engineer in the 90's when I was working at a warehouse my employer was building in Malaysia and two of the biggest issues they had were getting the workers to wear hard hats (even though the company provided them) and shoes (they use bamboo scaffolding a lot in Asia and it is easier to climb the scaffolding with bare feet)
 
Dr. Righteous said:
Samsung is the #1 consumer electronics maker in the world and not because their products are the best. Far from it.
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I don't know about that. My Samsung TV is top notch, my 750gb 840 SSD is crazy fast at an awesome price, and my ultra-slim Samsung laptop has performed flawlessly.

I heard Samsung dishwashers are a piece of crap though.

IMO they definitely make some quality stuff though.
 
so the riot was over 'safety protocols'....i can only imagine. makes me cringe. bet it was something along the lines of workers told to go into a room full of nasty chemical fumes like toluene or benzene and then they refuse to give them respirator masks. here, use this urine soaked rag instead. forget that it'll do nothing.
 
THRESHIN said:
so the riot was over 'safety protocols'....i can only imagine. makes me cringe. bet it was something along the lines of workers told to go into a room full of nasty chemical fumes like toluene or benzene and then they refuse to give them respirator masks. here, use this urine soaked rag instead. forget that it'll do nothing.
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you bet. I just watched something on Discovery about how they extract sulfur from a volcanic site in some Asian country. No masks of ANY KIND! Heck, at least give them a frickin basic paper one with a rubber band! I'd pay higher for whatever I get out of it if that'd give them masks.
 
M'ichal said:
you bet. I just watched something on Discovery about how they extract sulfur from a volcanic site in some Asian country. No masks of ANY KIND! Heck, at least give them a frickin basic paper one with a rubber band! I'd pay higher for whatever I get out of it if that'd give them masks.
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or better yet, I probably already pay more, but the money goes to some pocket instead of a mask vendor.
 
To be fair, the article is vague on what the actual concerns are ... I have seen both sides ... companies that are asking workers to follow unsafe or questionable procedures as well as workers that are objecting to safety standards they are unfamiliar with (hard hats, gloves, special shoes, worker age, etc)
 
First off, Salute to the Descent nostalgia, I miss it too, an updated remake could be awesome. And that was the one game where the SpaceOrb 360 ruled all :D
spaceorb_3.jpg


Now back to Samsung, they make damn good electronics and their appliances aren't bad either. But if you know the history of the company then you'll know that this wasn't always the case. After the wars, (plural), South Korea was ruined, no economy, no infrastructure, ruined. The US isolated and insulated South Korea protecting them from the North as well as insulating the country and their efforts to rebuild from the rest of the world. It was like putting an entire country into the ICU. Almost no money that entered the South Korean economy was allowed to leave, it was a one way door and the US was the biggest blood donor. As South Korea grew they created manufacturing and locally produced almost all their goods so companies like KIA, DAEWOO, HYUNDAI, SAMSUNG and GOLDSTAR were built and their products became the only staple of the country while imports from Japan and the US were aggressively taxed so that there could be no real competition, few were rich enough to afford them. This protectionism ensure the fragile country could get their manufacturing, construction, and financial institutions on solid ground before they were exposed to the stress of the real world's competitive markets.

It worked, in the 80's and 90's Korean products were being introduced into foreign markets in 3rd world countries where they could compete. South Korea began a steady program of increasing quality of their products for introduction into developed nations. GOLDSTAR became LG, South Korea suffered some initial shock as they entered the worlds big leagues and the US removed the protections that had sheltered what is now the 10th largest economy in the world.

South Korea didn't just recover, they excelled and the country is no longer a 3rd World nation and they did it in just about 50 years.

And you guys thought the US only conquers and destroys.

And that's where Samsung came from and why some people had bad experiences with them. If you'd said they used to be crap, you'd be right :D
 
Wow icpiper!! Thanks for the quick history lesson, I actually nver knew that
 
Dr. Righteous said:
Samsung is the #1 consumer electronics maker in the world and not because their products are the best. Far from it.

I have been against them since the old days because of their low price crap they put on the market. (Use to be in the electronics business, hated Samsung. It was always junk.)
I never owned a Samsung ANYTHING until recently.
It was time for new phone and the best all around deal we could find was StraightTalk and the up front purchase of a Samsung Galaxy Centura for $99.
The only real complaint I can say it the 800Mhz processor is too slow for a a lot of the apps out there but overall it is pretty descent. But for what I paid it is a descent phone.
So Meh; so much for principals. Apple phones were too expensive and I didn't want the weird off-brand phone they I have never heard of before.
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$200 23" LCD monitor from 2009 is running just fine, and that phone isn't using a Samsung processor, Qualcomm single core, bottom of the barrel in terms of Android smart phones.
 
Ah. Wife is Korean, my first duty assignment in the Army was to Korea in 1982. I married her there in 83. Country was still pretty 3rd worldish then but it just keeps changing so fast. An example, back in the early 80's all the bar whores were Koreans. Now they import them from the Philippines and Russia, believe it or not.

A.jpg
 
There is a flip side to the incredible growth of South Korea of course. It is notorious for being corrupt, politically, and the various chaebol mega-corporations (Samsung, LG, and Hyundai especially) are known to meddle at South Korean politics in a very in-depth and controlling manner. The protectionism has resulted in rampant nationalism of brands and they've retained very harsh controls on their market to disallow foreign competition. They also spent much of the time post Korean War as a military dictatorship themselves, along with numerous assassinations (albeit many from Northern agents). Their affluence was rapid and rather shocking to the people of what had been one of the poorest nations in the world, much like Japan post-WWII. But, while the US mandated the dismantlement of the zaibatsu of Japan, they helped foster the chaebol in South Korea leading to Samsung, LG, and Hyundai to control nearly two thirds of the South Korean economic output just themselves. In fact, the top ten chaebol in South Korea command between 80-90% of the South Korean economy which led them to the incredible power that they have in that country, as well as concerns about the nation's future as any single chaebol failing would result in massive economic hardship. Still, Samsung's ability to vertically integrate everything into a single mega-corporation is incredible and is why they dominate worldwide. And that never would've happened without massive government protectionism and backing.
 
lcpiper said:
Ah. Wife is Korean, my first duty assignment in the Army was to Korea in 1982. I married her there in 83. Country was still pretty 3rd worldish then but it just keeps changing so fast. An example, back in the early 80's all the bar whores were Koreans. Now they import them from the Philippines and Russia, believe it or not.
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Yeah, I made it to Korea a few times on short TDY assignments and your right it was fairly 3rd worldish, and going from a city into the countryside was like going back in time.
 
I wouldn't call it a flip side, I call it part of the same side. You are right, South Korea didn't become a democratic paradise just because thee war ended. The first two presidents were both deposed by military coup d'etat and the third, Park Chung-hee, led the country to great efforts in construction and development. At the same time he was also responsible for some pretty vicious massacres. Park was assassinated by Assassinated by Kim Jae-kyu, and succeeded as president by Choi Kyu-hah. Chun Doo-hwan was next, he was one hell of a thief and embezzled millions. The rest since him haven't been worth much, they didn't steal as money nor kill as many students, but they didn't get much done on the positive side either. Now their president is Park Geun-hye who is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, (remember the ruthless one who got things done?). This girl is pretty solid, she knows what a president is supposed to be. If she ran for the US Presidency I'd vote for her over any of the tards we have lined up for the job.
 
As an engineer within SRA (Samsung Research America), I can say that my lab and co-workers are extremely devoted to putting in the exploratory work leading to high quality products & services. Most of us personally own a great deal of Samsung gear, as do our friends and family members, not to mention the general public.... So there's genuine motivation to do our best work to ensure that when we see a Samsung device out in the wild, the owner of it regards it with pride --- not disdain.

Of course with an organization this vast I can only speak for my own unit, but I wanted to try and contribute to this discussion.

Cheers!
 
Dr. Righteous said:
Samsung is the #1 consumer electronics maker in the world and not because their products are the best. Far from it.

I have been against them since the old days because of their low price crap they put on the market. (Use to be in the electronics business, hated Samsung. It was always junk.)
Click to expand...

Still is. Their TVs and phones are terrible
 
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