"Listen up Samsung, you're paying for the lives of women workers"
In South Korea, the recent trampling of democracy by President Yoon Seok-yul's use of martial law took millions of peaceful protests and the passage of an impeachment motion in the National Assembly. Yoon, who is currently under suspension, rose to power on a platform of misogyny. He has called for no structural gender discrimination, and he has defended capital for producing precarious labor. Yun must be removed from office immediately. And the voices of workers calling for his removal must be heard beyond the National Assembly, in countless workplaces and on the ground.
Samsung Group, on the other hand, is a company that discriminates against female workers from the recruitment process and exposes them to illness and death in the field. In 2023, Samsung's female employment rate was only 26.2%, and the gender pay gap was 27.7%. Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, and Samsung Securities have all been accused of covering up evidence of sexist hiring by destroying recruitment documents. Samsung's call center workers are at constant risk of being fired. Working without knowing what substances they were handling on the production line, women workers were not allowed to rest when they were sick and were exposed en masse to unexplained occupational diseases. The profits extracted from these workers in these dangerous workplaces are monopolized by a small group of Samsung capitalists in the form of bonuses or dividends.
On December 12, SHARPS went inside Samsung's Giheung Semiconductor plant to hand out flyers with union members. We announced an open mic event on the 13th. The open mic was titled "Hear Samsung Paying for the Lives of Women Workers" and was organized by the 3.8 Women's Strike Organizing Committee. SHARPS is also a member of this organization.
The open mic event, moderated by SHARPS, featured testimonies from Samsung Semiconductor workers' compensation victims, the working conditions and struggles of Samsung's female workers, Samsung Display's accountability, structural gender discrimination and Samsung's accountability, Yoon Seok-yeol's resignation and the chaebol's relationship with Samsung, and student protests against Samsung.
"Yoon Seok-yeol and Lee Jae-yong are one! Abolish structural gender discrimination!" chanted the participants, who called for Yoon's immediate resignation, saying, "Yoon Seok-yeol, who came to power on the platform of misogyny, has been shouting that there is no structural gender discrimination and has been supporting capital that has been producing precarious labor ." They also condemned Samsung for "discriminating against women workers and exposing them to disease and death in the field." "Listen to Samsung, which pays dividends at the cost of women workers' lives," they chanted, calling for a fight to realize women workers' labor rights and health rights. This before Samsung's fourth dividend in late December.
During her remarks, she shared a YouTube video of a female Samsung worker's story and a transcript of her remarks.
[Description] On December 13, 2024, the first open mic of the 2025 Women's Strike was held in front of Gangnam Station Exit 10, the site of the 2015 Femicide. Participants marched towards the Samsung Electronics building at Exit 8 of Gangnam Station and spoke about the ongoing industrial accidents and discrimination in Samsung's semiconductor lines, as well as the dismissals and deaths of workers at Samsung's suppliers. This is the story of Woo Ha-kyung, a Roundup supporter and a female worker on the manual line at Samsung's Giheung Campus. Due to her poor health, the head of her labor union branch read it for her.
YouTube 1 share
[Field Notes: Speech] Ms. Woo Ha-kyung, female worker at Samsung Electronics
https://youtu.be/UzpVkH368QI
Share your remarks
Hello, everyone.
I'm Ha-kyung Woo, a manufacturing worker at Samsung Giheung Campus, working on line 6 and 7 of the 8-inch unautomated manual.
We are here today to talk about the structural inequalities in society that are at the heart of all of these issues, and the suffering of women labor victims that are exacerbated by them.
In particular, did you know that large companies like Samsung are contributing to this structural discrimination?
Samsung is an important economic center of our society, but behind the scenes, the company has a history of discrimination against women workers.
Issues of marginalization and discrimination are pervasive. We can no longer remain silent.
You need to raise your voice.
Even now, female workers at Samsung's Giheung Campus carry 5 kilograms of run boxes countless times a day. As a result, their hands are bent, and they are naturally exposed to many diseases such as degenerative arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lumbar discs, carpal tunnel syndrome, and varicose veins.
To our pain, Samsung Blinds has made comments about how our fingers are crooked and how we're disabled, which is both a body image slur against women and a disability slur, but our fingers were never meant to be like this.
I was diagnosed with degenerative arthritis in my fingers at the age of 30, with the beginning stages of finger deformity, requiring arthritis painkillers for heat and pain in my hands to live, and borderline rheumatoid arthritis levels.
I still remember my parents, who were thrilled to see me join Samsung at 19, tearing up when they saw the calluses and deformed fingers on my hands within a year, and the pain in their hearts as they held my ugly hands.
Samsung knows the dangers of manual lines, but ignores them and treats them worse than consumables.
Are you aware of this incident?
In May, two engineers were exposed to a high dose of radiation at Samsung's Giheung plant when the radiation protection device interlock failed to function properly. The intensity of the exposure was 188 times higher than the standard, resulting in radiation burns.
This is the same 8-inch line 6 and 7 where our female employee is also working.
I worked with the victim for 10 years at the same workplace. We were coworkers.
In one moment, you were a disaster and the world stopped.
The company said in the media that it would take full responsibility for the victims, but in reality, it did not. I was shocked to see my colleagues standing at press conferences and national audits calling for the truth.
Pregnant women and female employees who were working around the facilities that were exposed to radiation that no one cared about, and companies that claimed radiation exposure as an illness instead of recognizing it as an injury.
In the future, will our female employees be able to prove negligence against Samsung Electronics if they fall ill due to chemical exposure on this line? How long does the victim have to prove the facts?
I don't have the strength or the confidence to take on a big company and prove myself, because the information that is open to us is very limited.
I went to work one day, and whenever I was working with the runbox, I had a hard time breathing, dizziness, and night sweats. I felt like the whole world was moving except for me, and when I saw the young juniors working hard without knowing anything, I felt like this is really not the place for us to work, and I felt guilty that I was giving them the wrong place.
The pressure of dying on the line was getting to me, and I started to see things that were going wrong that I couldn't see.
A gas leak, but only evacuated to the next bay, a carbonization accident, but shrugged it off, and female employees complaining of pain from carbonization inhalation.
The company's ongoing behavior has been so mentally stressful that I am now on sick leave with panic disorder.
I was a really high-energy, bright person.
But now she is extremely depressed and lethargic, making it impossible for her to function in her daily life.
I desperately want to get back to a normal life with my husband and kids, even if it's just for a day.
I'm dreading the end of my sick leave and the time to get back in the line.
But you can't change the problem if you avoid it because you're afraid.
We need to do more than just point out problems, we need to act to make real change. Our voices together are power, and that power will make a difference. Today, let us resolve, stand together in solidarity, and fight for a better tomorrow. We are never alone.
Let's raise our voices and claim our rights. Let's hold Samsung accountable for its workers and build a safe and equal society!
Thank you.
"Listen up Samsung, you're paying for the lives of women workers"
In South Korea, the recent trampling of democracy by President Yoon Seok-yul's use of martial law took millions of peaceful protests and the passage of an impeachment motion in the National Assembly. Yoon, who is currently under suspension, rose to power on a platform of misogyny. He has called for no structural gender discrimination, and he has defended capital for producing precarious labor. Yun must be removed from office immediately. And the voices of workers calling for his removal must be heard beyond the National Assembly, in countless workplaces and on the ground.
Samsung Group, on the other hand, is a company that discriminates against female workers from the recruitment process and exposes them to illness and death in the field. In 2023, Samsung's female employment rate was only 26.2%, and the gender pay gap was 27.7%. Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, and Samsung Securities have all been accused of covering up evidence of sexist hiring by destroying recruitment documents. Samsung's call center workers are at constant risk of being fired. Working without knowing what substances they were handling on the production line, women workers were not allowed to rest when they were sick and were exposed en masse to unexplained occupational diseases. The profits extracted from these workers in these dangerous workplaces are monopolized by a small group of Samsung capitalists in the form of bonuses or dividends.
On December 12, SHARPS went inside Samsung's Giheung Semiconductor plant to hand out flyers with union members. We announced an open mic event on the 13th. The open mic was titled "Hear Samsung Paying for the Lives of Women Workers" and was organized by the 3.8 Women's Strike Organizing Committee. SHARPS is also a member of this organization.
The open mic event, moderated by SHARPS, featured testimonies from Samsung Semiconductor workers' compensation victims, the working conditions and struggles of Samsung's female workers, Samsung Display's accountability, structural gender discrimination and Samsung's accountability, Yoon Seok-yeol's resignation and the chaebol's relationship with Samsung, and student protests against Samsung.
"Yoon Seok-yeol and Lee Jae-yong are one! Abolish structural gender discrimination!" chanted the participants, who called for Yoon's immediate resignation, saying, "Yoon Seok-yeol, who came to power on the platform of misogyny, has been shouting that there is no structural gender discrimination and has been supporting capital that has been producing precarious labor ." They also condemned Samsung for "discriminating against women workers and exposing them to disease and death in the field." "Listen to Samsung, which pays dividends at the cost of women workers' lives," they chanted, calling for a fight to realize women workers' labor rights and health rights. This before Samsung's fourth dividend in late December.
During her remarks, she shared a YouTube video of a female Samsung worker's story and a transcript of her remarks.
[Description] On December 13, 2024, the first open mic of the 2025 Women's Strike was held in front of Gangnam Station Exit 10, the site of the 2015 Femicide. Participants marched towards the Samsung Electronics building at Exit 8 of Gangnam Station and spoke about the ongoing industrial accidents and discrimination in Samsung's semiconductor lines, as well as the dismissals and deaths of workers at Samsung's suppliers. This is the story of Woo Ha-kyung, a Roundup supporter and a female worker on the manual line at Samsung's Giheung Campus. Due to her poor health, the head of her labor union branch read it for her.
YouTube 1 share
[Field Notes: Speech] Ms. Woo Ha-kyung, female worker at Samsung Electronics
https://youtu.be/UzpVkH368QI
Share your remarks
Hello, everyone.
I'm Ha-kyung Woo, a manufacturing worker at Samsung Giheung Campus, working on line 6 and 7 of the 8-inch unautomated manual.
We are here today to talk about the structural inequalities in society that are at the heart of all of these issues, and the suffering of women labor victims that are exacerbated by them.
In particular, did you know that large companies like Samsung are contributing to this structural discrimination?
Samsung is an important economic center of our society, but behind the scenes, the company has a history of discrimination against women workers.
Issues of marginalization and discrimination are pervasive. We can no longer remain silent.
You need to raise your voice.
Even now, female workers at Samsung's Giheung Campus carry 5 kilograms of run boxes countless times a day. As a result, their hands are bent, and they are naturally exposed to many diseases such as degenerative arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lumbar discs, carpal tunnel syndrome, and varicose veins.
To our pain, Samsung Blinds has made comments about how our fingers are crooked and how we're disabled, which is both a body image slur against women and a disability slur, but our fingers were never meant to be like this.
I was diagnosed with degenerative arthritis in my fingers at the age of 30, with the beginning stages of finger deformity, requiring arthritis painkillers for heat and pain in my hands to live, and borderline rheumatoid arthritis levels.
I still remember my parents, who were thrilled to see me join Samsung at 19, tearing up when they saw the calluses and deformed fingers on my hands within a year, and the pain in their hearts as they held my ugly hands.
Samsung knows the dangers of manual lines, but ignores them and treats them worse than consumables.
Are you aware of this incident?
In May, two engineers were exposed to a high dose of radiation at Samsung's Giheung plant when the radiation protection device interlock failed to function properly. The intensity of the exposure was 188 times higher than the standard, resulting in radiation burns.
This is the same 8-inch line 6 and 7 where our female employee is also working.
I worked with the victim for 10 years at the same workplace. We were coworkers.
In one moment, you were a disaster and the world stopped.
The company said in the media that it would take full responsibility for the victims, but in reality, it did not. I was shocked to see my colleagues standing at press conferences and national audits calling for the truth.
Pregnant women and female employees who were working around the facilities that were exposed to radiation that no one cared about, and companies that claimed radiation exposure as an illness instead of recognizing it as an injury.
In the future, will our female employees be able to prove negligence against Samsung Electronics if they fall ill due to chemical exposure on this line? How long does the victim have to prove the facts?
I don't have the strength or the confidence to take on a big company and prove myself, because the information that is open to us is very limited.
I went to work one day, and whenever I was working with the runbox, I had a hard time breathing, dizziness, and night sweats. I felt like the whole world was moving except for me, and when I saw the young juniors working hard without knowing anything, I felt like this is really not the place for us to work, and I felt guilty that I was giving them the wrong place.
The pressure of dying on the line was getting to me, and I started to see things that were going wrong that I couldn't see.
A gas leak, but only evacuated to the next bay, a carbonization accident, but shrugged it off, and female employees complaining of pain from carbonization inhalation.
The company's ongoing behavior has been so mentally stressful that I am now on sick leave with panic disorder.
I was a really high-energy, bright person.
But now she is extremely depressed and lethargic, making it impossible for her to function in her daily life.
I desperately want to get back to a normal life with my husband and kids, even if it's just for a day.
I'm dreading the end of my sick leave and the time to get back in the line.
But you can't change the problem if you avoid it because you're afraid.
We need to do more than just point out problems, we need to act to make real change. Our voices together are power, and that power will make a difference. Today, let us resolve, stand together in solidarity, and fight for a better tomorrow. We are never alone.
Let's raise our voices and claim our rights. Let's hold Samsung accountable for its workers and build a safe and equal society!
Thank you.