The right to know and the right to health

Abstract

REPORT□ HEALTH ANDSAFETY The right to know and the right to health Thereare no unionsat Samsung, but thereare 100 workerswho representa 'cluster' ofcancer cases at the company's plants After a brief memorialfora 23-year old worker, seven demonstrators were arrested CHARLES LEVENSTEIN (above) isProfessor Emeritus of Work Environment atUniversity of Massachusetts Lowell. Dominick Tuminaro isaretired workers compensation attorney aswell asadjunct professor atthe Brooklyn College Graduate Center for Worker Education and aformer board member of NYCOSH. Charles Levenstein wasrecently inSeoul for a conference onhealth andhuman rights atthe Seoul National University's School ofPublic Health. Healsomet with representatives ofSHARP, as well as two health care workers' unions, a teachers' union, a shoe-workers' union, andSolidarity for Workers' Health, a coalition of occupational health activists and trade unionists. On former South 2 April Korea, worker 2010, was Ji-Yeon at buried, a Samsung Park, the a victim 23 factory year of old in a former workerat a Samsungfactory in SouthKorea,was buried,thevictim of a blood cancer.She is one of approximately 100 workers who represent a 'cluster' ofcancercases atSamsung plants. Fellowworkers and members ofSupporters forHealthAndRights ofPeople in Semiconductor Industry ('SHARP')wereprevented bypolicefrom marching from thefuneral to theSamsung plant, butre-convened outsidecompany headquartersto picket with signs that memorialised her death. Seven demonstrators werearrested after a brief memorial. Thereare no unionsat Samsung."Recognise trade unions over my dead body!" said Lee Byungchul, the late founderof Samsung.One occupationalphysician, a faculty memberat a medical school near Seoul, recentlytold us: "Samsunghas establishedfake unions ... in SamsungAffiliates. I knowmanyworkers have struggled to makean enterprise union,buttheir efforts failed. ... they have been fired by Samsung.For example,Jong-tae Park,was a worker of Samsungelectronics... [He] has been fired due to[hisefforts] toaddress[the] necessity oftradeunionbythatcompany fivedaysago". Anotherworkers'health advocate told us: "therehave been manyefforts of workersto organise themselves. But,every attempt hasbeen completely blocked by Samsung.Maybe,dismissalis themost'tender' wayoftheirs". At Samsung,workerstrying to exercisetheir mostbasicrights toorganise andtoprotect themselvesfrom hazardous conditions imposedbythe company,do not have the protection of the South Korean government. But when South Koreaentered theUnited Nations in1991,ittook on alltheobligations ofmember states, including thedutyto respecttheUniversal Declaration of HumanRights. In fact, SouthKoreastateson the United Nations website: In thearea ofeconomic, social,and cultural rights, theGovernment strives toenhancethe quality ofthelivesofindividuals by providing a widerangeofopportunities toenjoyeducation ,culture, health services, etc.Itisalso exerting every possible effort toguarantee labourrights, theright toa decentlifeand the right tohealth ofthelow-income orthevulnerablebysecuring thesocialsafety net'. ButtheRepublic ofKoreahasnotratified important conventionsof the International Labour Organisation: the Freedomof Associationand Protection oftheRight to OrganiseConvention, 1948 (No. 87), or the Rightto Organiseand Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949(No. 98). And,inthelasttenyears, complaints havebeen lodged withthe ILO againstthe SouthKorean Government byunionsrepresenting hotelworkers ,teachers, 'precarious' workersin themetal industry, othercasualworkers, and collegeprofessors . In reviewing one complaint, the ILO Committee on Freedomof Association('CFA') requested that theGovernment conduct an investigation into'...allegations ofviolencebyprivate security guardsagainst tradeunionists during rallies at HMC Ulsan and Asan and Kiryung Electronics and,iftheyareconfirmed, totakeall necessary measuresto punishthoseresponsible andcompensate thevictims foranydamagessuffered '. The CFAwarnedtheGovernment that'... violence, criminal sanctions ordisproportionately heavypecuniary penalties arenotconducive toa constructive industrial relations climate, especiallyintheabsenceofaffirmative measures topromote dialogue and collectivebargaining'. In a case brought by the Metalworkers' Unionconcernedaboutthetreatment of migrant workers, theILO warnedSouthKoreaagainst jailing, beatingand deporting unionleadersand members. The failure to protect workers' rights to form unionshasparticularly direconsequences for the Samsung workers. Theydo notappeartohavea Government-protected 'right to know'aboutthe hazardoussubstances withwhichthey areworking ,andthey havenounionthat canfight for that right. The ILO is nottheonlyinternational agency interested in workers' health.The WorldHealth Organisation is also concernedwith ensuring standards ofworker health. Humanrights instruments establishing stateobligations inhealthare included in the InternationalCovenant on Economic, SocialandCultural Rights. Freedom of information is guaranteed by the International Covenant on CivilandPolitical Rights, as wellas the rightsto associationand to life.As one humanrights activist noted,"ILOConvention 187 and earlierconventions takea focuson OSH- ... Koreawas amongthefirst countries to ratify it,in2008,and itentered intoforcein2009". Whenasked,theactivists at SHARPsaid that theyare notat thepresent focusing on internationalhumanrights violations. Asone ofthekey activists hassaid,"Imustconcentrate on thelawINTERNATI0NAL union rights Page 20Volume 17Issue 4201 0 REPORT□ HEALTH ANDSAFETY suitagainstgovernment's decisionnot to compensate five leukemia/lymphoma victimsin Samsung in one hand,and in otherhand,must makethisissueintobroaderagendaofnational workers' compensation insurance as a socialwelfaresystem . In myhumbleopinion,thosetwo worksarevery important toorganise victims and unions, and nottobe isolated". The...