[21 July 2018]SHARPS and Samsung Consent to Binding Arbitration for Occupational Disease Victims

https://ipen.org/news/sharps-and-samsung-consent-binding-arbitration-occupational-disease-victims

On July 21, Samsung said it would unconditionally act on an arbitration proposal that a once-crippled mediation committee will make by October. On the same day, SHARPS also agreed to the proposal.

On July 18, in its last-ditch attempt, the mediation committee upped the ante and proposed a binding arbitration process. It went further in declaring that it would dissolve itself if either party did not accept the proposal. The following are highlights although details must be worked out in the next three months:

• Samsung will begin to put in place safety measures proposed by the mediation committee by October 2018;
• Samsung will make a formal apology proposed by the committee by October 2018;
• Samsung will compensate SHARPS-profiled victims under a new scheme proposed by the committee by October 2018;
• Samsung will compensate new victims for the next ten years after it pays its first compensation under the new scheme;
• SHARPS will end its sit-in within days of the formal signing of the proposal for arbitration.

The three parties will sign the proposal on July 24, Korean time.

SHARPS plans to hold a rally on July 25, declaring an end to the sit-in that it began on Oct 8, 2015.


"Most of all, this is because the current issue is not only a temporary issue between the parties, but also an issue pertaining to the health of all working people in our society. Therefore, the Mediation Committee has to consider rational criteria that can be used for any future [occupational disease] victims to receive appropriate assistance. The Mediation Committee holds the current issue not as one for the two parties and itself as a substantial issue that should be addressed societally."

https://stopsamsung.wordpress.com/2018/07/24/sharps-and-samsung-consent-to-binding-arbitration-for-occupational-disease-victims/