三星恢复与涉用童工供应商合作

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.

三星电子(Samsung Electronics)已恢复了与一家雇佣童工的中国供应商的业务合作，理由是这些童工受雇于一家劳动中介机构，而并非由该公司管理层直接雇佣。

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.

上个月，三星表示，在发现新洋电子(Shinyang Electronics)存在雇佣童工的证据之后，已暂停与其所有业务。位于中国南方城市东莞的新洋电子为三星组装手机外壳。此前，人权组织“中国劳工观察”（China Labor Watch，简称CLW）公布了一份报告，报告援引了对新洋电子工厂的5名14岁、15岁工人的采访内容。

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，其已决定恢复与新洋电子之间的业务合作，因为中国官方的调查发现，这些童工是被一家中介机构雇佣的，意味着新洋电子“没有直接雇佣童工或者参与非法雇佣童工的活动”。

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

这一调查结果看来证实了当初“中国人权观察”报告的内容，该报告称，这些童工是“通过一家中介机构使用伪造身份证雇佣的”。

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，三星表示其今年给予新洋电子的订单将比去年减少30%，以“按照三星的童工零容忍政策，让该供应商承担起对分包商失察的责任。”三星补充称，该劳动中介机构已缴纳了这些童工的未来教育费用。记者联系新洋电子的电话无人接听。

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的公司治理投资顾问Park Yoo-kyung表示：“在我看来，恢复与（新洋）的业务合作并不像是零容忍政策”，并称该公司的声明“有点儿自相矛盾”。APG Asset Management Asia是三星的投资者公司之一。

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

“三星应该清楚，许多投资者正在默默地关注他们如何处理童工问题，”她补充道。

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.

三星此次报告新洋工厂童工事件，是该公司首次承认此类情况。此前，三星对“中国劳工观察”的两次类似指控不予理睬，称其无事实依据。

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.

中国工厂经常系统性地违反劳工规章，其劳工工作条件已对三星及其对手苹果(Apple)等公司的声誉构成了负面影响。

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，三星仿效苹果，发布对其供应商工作条件的审查报告，审查结果与苹果大相径庭。苹果最近的报告披露了23起使用童工的情况，但声称95%的供应商遵守了其每周60小时的工时上限。形成反差的是，三星未发现使用童工的证据，但表示大多数供应商违反了安全标准和法定工时上限。

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.

近来三星中国供应链，及由来已久的韩国工人死于白血病的丑闻令该公司受到的审查，成为分散注意力的坏事，因为三星正努力消除其盈利能力引起的担忧。

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机销量最高的公司，但它在智能手机市场的份额已部分被小米(Xiaomi)和华为(Huawei)等快速成长的中国对手夺去。今年第二季度，三星的营业利润降至两年低点，营收同比减少近10%。