Factory violence to end in court as police press charges on agitators

Violent scenes broke out at Samsung’s factory, currently under construction in Thai Nguyen province

According to the provincial People’s Committee’s report on the case sent to the prime minister, last Thursday morning, a local worker from the project was not allowed to enter the construction site as under regulations, workers are not allowed to enter late.

The worker tried to force entry, but security guards from Hoa Binh Security Guards Service Company, hired by Samsung to protect the factory, used force to prevent him. An argument broke out between the two sides, giving way to scenes of serious violence as other enraged workers clashed with the guards. More than 1,000 workers are said to have attacked the guards initially and then the number increased to some thousands.

As a result, 11 security guards and two policemen were injured, while three containers and 22 motorbikes were set alight during the clashes. The wounded were immediately hospitalised, although no fatalities or serious injuries have been reported.

The police have begun investigations and will collect evidence to bring prosecutions against those they have evidence of being involved in the dispute.

Duong Ngoc Long, Chairman of the Thai Nguyen Provincial People’s Committee, said “The clash between the workers and the security guards originated from an internal conflict between the two units working for Samsung. The incident was not a result of organisational failure.” A large number of workers became involved in the riot as they mistakenly thought that the late worker had been hit to death by the security guards, said Long.

In response to VIR’s inquiries about the case, Nguyen Mai Linh, head of public relations at Samsung Electronics Vietnam said “The incident does not relate to Samsung Electronics Vietnam as the factory in Thai Nguyen is still under construction and therefore belongs to Samsung C&T Vietnam, the contractor of the project.” 

In March 2013, Samsung Electronics, decided to invest $2 billion building the hi-tech factory in Thai Nguyen, and in October announced an additional $1.2 billion into the factory manufacturing electronic components for mobile phones here.

The complex, known as Samsung’s global largest one, is expected to enter the test production phase in February 2014 and begin commercial operations in March.