三星恢復與涉用童工供應商合作

Samsung Electronics has resumed business with a Chinese supplier that employed child workers, on the basis that the children were recruited by a labour broker and not directly by the company’s management.

三星電子(Samsung Electronics)已恢復了與一家僱傭童工的中國供應商的業務合作，理由是這些童工受僱於一家勞動中介機構，而並非由該公司管理層直接僱傭。

Last month Samsung said it had suspended all business with Shinyang Electronic, which assembled Samsung phone cases in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan, after finding evidence of underage workers. This followed a report from the rights group China Labor Watch citing interviews with five 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds working at the plant.

上個月，三星表示，在發現新洋電子(Shinyang Electronics)存在僱傭童工的證據之後，已暫停與其所有業務。位於中國南方城市東莞的新洋電子爲三星組裝手機外殼。此前，人權組織“中國勞工觀察”（China Labor Watch，簡稱CLW）公佈了一份報告，報告援引了對新洋電子工廠的5名14歲、15歲工人的採訪內容。

However, Samsung yesterday said that it had decided to lift the suspension on Shinyang because an investigation by Chinese authorities found that the children were hired by a subcontractor, meaning that Shinyang “did not directly hire or did not engage in illegal hiring of child labour”.

但三星昨日表示，其已決定恢復與新洋電子之間的業務合作，因爲中國官方的調查發現，這些童工是被一家中介機構僱傭的，意味着新洋電子“沒有直接僱傭童工或者參與非法僱傭童工的活動”。

This finding appeared to support the original CLW report, which said that the children had been hired “through an intermediary using false IDs”.

這一調查結果看來證實了當初“中國人權觀察”報告的內容，該報告稱，這些童工是“通過一家中介機構使用僞造身份證僱傭的”。

However, Samsung said it would reduce its orders from Shinyang by 30 per cent this year compared with last year, “to hold the supplier responsible for failing to monitor its subcontractors, in accordance with Samsung’s zero tolerance policy on child labour”. It added that the labour broker had contributed to the children’s future education costs. Calls to Shinyang were not answered.

然而，三星表示其今年給予新洋電子的訂單將比去年減少30%，以“按照三星的童工零容忍政策，讓該供應商承擔起對分包商失察的責任。”三星補充稱，該勞動中介機構已繳納了這些童工的未來教育費用。記者聯繫新洋電子的電話無人接聽。

Park Yoo-kyung, an investment adviser on governance at APG Asset Management Asia, an investor in Samsung, said: “Resuming business with [Shinyang] does not seem to me a zero-tolerant policy,” calling the company’s statement “a bit self-contradictory”.

APG Asset Management Asia的公司治理投資顧問Park Yoo-kyung表示：“在我看來，恢復與（新洋）的業務合作並不像是零容忍政策”，並稱該公司的聲明“有點兒自相矛盾”。APG Asset Management Asia是三星的投資者公司之一。

“Samsung should know that many investors are quietly watching how they deal with the child labour issue,” she added.

“三星應該清楚，許多投資者正在默默地關注他們如何處理童工問題，”她補充道。

Samsung’s report of child workers at the factory was the first such admission by the company, which had previously dismissed two similar allegations by CLW as unsubstantiated.

三星此次報告新洋工廠童工事件，是該公司首次承認此類情況。此前，三星對“中國勞工觀察”的兩次類似指控不予理睬，稱其無事實依據。

Working conditions in Chinese factories, where labour regulations are often systematically flouted, have become a liability for the reputations of companies including Samsung and its rival Apple.

中國工廠經常系統性地違反勞工規章，其勞工工作條件已對三星及其對手蘋果(Apple)等公司的聲譽構成了負面影響。

Samsung this year followed Apple’s example of publishing an audit of its suppliers’ working conditions, and the findings contrasted. Apple’s latest report revealed 23 instances of child labour, but claimed that 95 per cent of suppliers complied with its working time limit of 60 hours a week. In contrast, Samsung found no evidence of underage workers but said that most suppliers breached safety standards and legal limits on working hours.

今年，三星仿效蘋果，發佈對其供應商工作條件的審查報告，審查結果與蘋果大相徑庭。蘋果最近的報告披露了23起使用童工的情況，但聲稱95%的供應商遵守了其每週60小時的工時上限。形成反差的是，三星未發現使用童工的證據，但表示大多數供應商違反了安全標準和法定工時上限。

Recent scrutiny of its Chinese supply chain, and of a long-running scandal over deaths from leukaemia among its South Korean workers, is an unwelcome distraction for Samsung as it fights to allay concerns about its profitability.

近來三星中國供應鏈，及由來已久的韓國工人死於白血病的醜聞令該公司受到的審查，成爲分散注意力的壞事，因爲三星正努力消除其盈利能力引起的擔憂。

The company has lost market share in smartphones to fast-growing Chinese rivals such as Xiaomi and Huawei, although it remains the global leader by sales of the devices. Samsung’s operating profit fell to a two-year low in the second quarter, with revenue down by almost a tenth year on year.

三星目前仍是全球智能手機銷量最高的公司，但它在智能手機市場的份額已部分被小米(Xiaomi)和華爲(Huawei)等快速成長的中國對手奪去。今年第二季度，三星的營業利潤降至兩年低點，營收同比減少近10%。