Electronics Watch builds links with Korean trade unions
One of Electronics Watch's strategic goals is for workers to exercise their right to organise and access remedy. Affiliated public buyers use their leverage to promote freedom of association and collective bargaining in their supply chains. This includes enabling access for trade unions to organise and represent workers collectively, and address union busting.
To support these efforts, the Electronics Watch team builds relationships with trade unions in production regions around the world.
Monitoring Capacity Manager Aykut Kazanci visited South Korea recently, where he met with two trade unions representing thousands of electronics workers. The electric battery industry has grown rapidly there, although its future is uncertain as companies expand overseas. The terrible fire of 24 June at the Aricell lithium battery factory in Hwaseong was a tragic reminder of the cost workers pay to provide the world with electric batteries. Korean unions are calling for stricter health and safety standards in the industry, and better enforcement.
In Seoul, Aykut met with the Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU) to learn more about their Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) battery sector organizing efforts. KMWU is a national union with 190,000 members, covering industrial parks with SMEs, migrant workers, shipyards, and electronics. However, the KMWU say that the battery industry's anti-union attitude make it challenging for workers in this sector to organize.
Improving health and safety in battery plants is a priority for KMWU, amid concerns that current safety regulations are not being followed. As well as the danger of fire and explosions, like the one at Aricell, union representatives explained that workers are exposed to hazardous substances and lack information about the impact these could have on their health. A high number of accidents and injuries are reported, including musculoskeletal disorders. High turnover and precarious working conditions are common, according to the union.
Recent successes for KMWU include organizing at Samsung SDI in 2021-22 and getting a collective bargaining agreement signed there. Samsung SDI is the sixth biggest lithium-ion battery manufacturer worldwide. The union is also actively involved in the IndustriALL automotive industry steering committee and can help drive engagement with Korean car makers. Aykut also met with the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) at the Samsung semiconductor manufacturing compounds in Giehung, where 36,000 of their members have been on strike for the last two months. They told him about the background to the strike, the problems reported by workers, and their demands to Samsung.
Electronics Watch will continue to support workers and trade unions to demand effective human rights due diligence from supply chain stakeholders.