Capitalism The Blood Sucker of the Working Class
To state that capitalism and
particularly the neo-liberal capitalism
of imperialist globalisation thrives
by sucking the blood of the working-
class in its pursuit of super-profits
cannot be an exaggeration but an
irrefutable reality.
Very recently an example of
how the transnational corporations
of big capital have been sacrificing
the blood and lives of the working-
class at their altar of capitalist
production for gaining super-profits
exposing their inhuman class-
nature.
Samsung Electronics is the
world’s biggest mobile phone
manufacturer and chip-maker and
the flag-ship subsidiary of the
Samsung group by far the biggest
of the family-controlled conglomerates
that dominate the South-Korean
economy.
Currently Samsung operates
vast semi-conductor compounds in
Suwon as well as the cities of
Hwaseong and Pyeongtack, south
of Seol as well Xian in China.
The workers in these semi-
conductor and LED factories have
been complaining for more than a
decade that they are suffering with
serious illnesses such as cancer of
16 types and other rare-illnesses
such as miscarriages and congenital
diseases are suffered by their
children. Workers have been
working in those factories as far
back as 1984.
The former workers at the
semi-conductor and display factories
in Suwon and their families have
been complaining that the staff had
been diagnosed or died of various
forms of cancer.
But the company refused such
claims of health-hazard at its plants
evading its responsibility and liability
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for the illness of the workers and
their deaths.
However a father of work-
women, who died of leukaemia in
2007, has raised a dispute against
Samsung in various courts. A series
of rulings and decisions by courts
and with the intervention of Seoul’s
state labour welfare agency and a
mediation committee followed over
for more than 10 years culminating
in Samsung management reaching
in to a formal settlement agreement,
for paying the disabled ex-employees
with compensation.
According to the agreement
Samsung Electronics will pay the
group’s employees compensation
up to 150 million won ($ 133,000)
per each case. It covers 16 types
of cancer, some other illnesses,
miscarriages and congenital
diseases suffered by the worker’s
children.
It is estimated that more than
240 people have suffered from
work-related illnesses after being
employed at Samsung semi-
conductor and display factories.
At last the Samsung manage
ment had to admit that it had failed
to properly manage health-risks at
its semi-conductor and LCD factories.
Since it is caught of its crime
of culpable and callous negligence
of not protecting the health of its
workers from work-related perils
and health-hazards, pretending as
a ‘gentle-man’ now after more than
10 years announces that “we
sincerely apologise to the workers
who suffered from illness and their
families”.
But this apology is not at all a
solace for the families of the victim
workers and not enough a compen
sation to heal all the insults, the
pain of industrial injuries and the
suffering of losing one’s family as
has been stated by the father of
diseased work-women.
More than 80 young women
workers were suffering with cancer
and dying.
The apology of Samsung
management cannot be considered
to be a sincere and honest one, but
a mere gesture to hood-wink the
world and eye-wash the workers in
an attempt to absolve from its
heinous crime against workers in a
bid to cover-up its inhuman blood
sucking exploitation of workers to
gain super-profits.
Even now the management
had not announced that it would
take immediate necessary steps to
protect its workers from the health-
hazards and work-related health
perils. Thus it intends to play the
same game and when again caught
up intends to re-enact the same
drama with payment of some
compensation or other which is
cheaper than creating a safe and
healthy work-place environment to
workers and maintaining it.
Such is the Dracula nature of
capitalist industrial production at
the cost of lives of the workers and
the working-class.
While such has been the evil
capitalist system how any same
person could claim that there is no
alternative for this despicable and
monstrous capitalist system for the
well-being of humanity?
The working class shall
understand this cruel class-nature
of ruthless exploitation of labour
power of working-class for the
benefit of few big-capitalists and
must resolve to fight out and root-
out the very capitalist system and
establish a socialist system of no
exploitation and inequalities!
Class Struggle