
Workers on Samsung factory site battle police in Vietnam - pnhoang
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/workers-on-samsung-factory-site-battle-police-in-vietnam-1.2490281
======
nodata
Google Translate:
[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=vi&tl=en&u=ht...](http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=vi&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fphunukieuviet.vn%2Fphap-
luat%2Fcong-nhan-dung-do-voi-bao-ve-samsung-thai-nguyen-8-nguoi-chet.html)

English article from "The Hindu":
[http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/workers-
building-s...](http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/workers-building-
samsung-factory-run-riot-in-vietnam/article5557754.ece)

~~~
DigitalBison
The Hindu article mentions 4 injured, but not 8 dead. Is there another source
on the 8 dead figure?

~~~
JustMadMike
This is the best source I can find.

"11 people were injured, 5 of them seriously"

[http://www.thanhniennews.com/index/pages/20140109-11-injured...](http://www.thanhniennews.com/index/pages/20140109-11-injured-
over-brawl-in-samsung-plant-in-northern-vietnam.aspx)

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JimmaDaRustla
Ah, so its workers building the plant, not the workers manufacturing their
products.

~~~
ddebernardy
It's not good publicity either way...

~~~
JimmaDaRustla
No, not at all. Like the other article linked by nodata, companies are moving
from China to Vietnam because its cheaper. Seems a little greedy.

~~~
at-fates-hands
>>>Seems a little greedy.

Which actually benefits us as the consumer. Would you prefer a less greedy
corporation that goes where the most expensive labor is which then increases
the cost of production which then increases the cost of the products you buy
from said company?

Greed is what keeps prices low, and competition high.

~~~
sixthloginorso
If they assured me that the extra price goes to ensure a better standard of
living and better working conditions for their third-world workers, then yes.

~~~
elohesra
How nice that you can afford to pay extra to ease liberal guilt. Do you think
that the poorest in your country can afford to pay extra too?

For the relatively monied -- and software developers usually count among that
number -- it's easy to argue that companies are too greedy, and that companies
shouldn't use exploitative labour. For the lower class, paying extra so that
someone in the third world can enjoy a better quality of life isn't an option.

~~~
sixthloginorso
So you say that multinational corporations shouldn't compete on ethics? I
thought you neoliberals didn't chastise anyone with respect to their choices
in commerce.

Yes, this is systemic. Are you trying to convince me that the situation isn't
fucked? For all the claptrap about how the economy isn't a zero-sum game and
that the tide lifts all the boats and so many other platitudes, there's no
denying that the quality of life of most people in the world is nothing but a
point in a gradient of declining living conditions, everyone benefiting from
the labor of people with fewer options who have to work and live worse than
them.

Anyhow, how much do you think it would raise the cost of the things you use,
just to ensure safe working conditions at factories? For jeans, it's a paltry
90 cents.

[http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/07/10/bangladesh-factory-
saf...](http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/07/10/bangladesh-factory-safety)

Yes, the poorest in my country would probably have to think twice before
spending even 90 cents, hell tell that to the homeless. The vast majority of
the poor here probably wouldn't mind, given that it's a mere drop in the sea
of debt they are drowning in, and that's a problem with many facets, on its
own.

But there's quite a lot of room for diminishing the unfairness of this scheme,
even if the solution feels even cosmetic at times given the broader problem of
exploitation and inequality.

~~~
icebraining
_no denying that the quality of life of most people in the world is nothing
but a point in a gradient of declining living conditions_

I won't deny it, but I find it hard to believe. In any case, the poorest are
better off, even if the middle class is declining (700M out of extreme poverty
in just 20 years).

------
sanxiyn
YouTube:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__-i61Wn3CM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__-i61Wn3CM)

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GigabyteCoin
I just watched the grapes of wrath last night for the first time. Amazing
movie. It was released in 1940, just a year after the book.

I guess some things will never change, unfortunately.

I hope someone gives these poor workers the decent wages and decent lives they
deserve, and soon.

~~~
manachar
> I guess some things will never change, unfortunately.

I feel this way too sometimes, but if you step back you realize things change
all the time. In America people banded together into worker's unions which
fought tooth and nail to be treated fairly. Unions in America clearly have
some shortcomings, but it did manage to move the needle from Grapes of Wrath
style living to a more equitable and humane existence for workers.

Clearly these workers (and elsewhere in Asia) are starting to organize.
Perhaps they too can enjoy a larger portion of the fruits of their labour.

Of course, the downside of constant change is things can get worse too and
it's often very difficult to know which direction makes things better and
which direction will makes things worse. Indeed, most won't even agree on what
is better and what is worse.

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mark_lee
Not really, those companies they won't move out as quickly as expected, they
know what's gonna happen soon, China will need them again as soon as some real
estate bubbles burst.

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theorique
Hope this doesn't push the release date forward.

(edit: Irony, people. Irony.)

~~~
gabriel34
Without clues such as facial expression, tone of voice and knowing who is it
that you are talking to irony is indistinguishable from a normal statement.
You could try to exaggerate to the point that it would be ridiculous for a
sane person to assume you are serious, but it's not reliable.

Avoid Irony/Sarcasm on the internet.

~~~
theorique
Yeah, I think I need to use an explicit "/s" tag.

No one can read how hilarious I am in real life when it's in the generic font.

