"When I lost my hands making flatscreens I can't afford, nobody would help me."
Rosa Moreno lost both her hands while making televisions for LG Electronics -- the world's second-largest television manufacturer.
One night in 2011, the boss of the factory in Mexico where Rosa worked was pressuring the night shift workers to "work faster, because we need the material urgently." A short while later, a massive metal-cutting machine fell on top of Rosa, badly mangling her hands -- both of which had to be amputated.
After the accident, the factory offered Rosa a paltry sum in compensation. Now she's gone public with her fight for justice -- for herself and for other workers who are still at risk of injury or death in factories supplying LG Electronics. "I hope someone, somewhere, will hear or read my story and help prevent this from happening again. Because, while my hands are gone, the injustice for so many remains."
Let's stand in solidarity with Rosa. If thousands of us speak out now and tell the electronics giant that we are standing with Rosa, the company may finally act to keep workers in its supply chain safe.
LG: protect people like Rosa by enforcing labor protections in your supply chain.
These kinds of accidents are happening all the time at LG factories across the globe. Workers have been killed and injured while repairing machinery at its plants in Poland, and in explosions and nitrogen leaks at its factories in South Korea.
Last year, LG's global sales topped a staggering US$55 billion. But the workers making LG's products are earning rock bottom wages in conditions that are often downright dangerous.
"We don't ask for even a tiny share of the billions these companies make," says Rosa. "We are just asking for enough to take care of our families and, when we are hurt, to take care of ourselves, too."
Since we started, SumOfUs has been fighting for companies to take responsibility for what happens to workers throughout their supply chains. Food companies thought they could get away with deforestation, land grabs and human slavery in their palm oil supply chains, but because we've come together, companies like McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts have committed to changing their ways. And when 1,200 people making clothing sold in malls all over the world died in a Bangladeshi factory collapse at Rana Plaza, we raised tens of thousands of dollars to support worker organizing to prevent the next tragedy.
Over and over, we've shown that when we speak out together, we are not only showing the one company in the news that it need to change its ways -- we're showing every company that it can't hide from atrocities that happen deep in its complex supply chain.
The Guardian wrote a piece recently that brought Rosa's story to our attention -- and the attention of millions of people around the world. But if we don't follow Rosa's lead and speak out, LG will continue to get away with putting its profits over the welfare of the people who make its products. LG needs to take responsibility for the safety of the workers in its supply chain. As we've seen, it could mean the difference between life and death. Will you send a message to ensure the safety and dignity of workers like Rosa?
Tell LG to enforce labor protections in its supply chain, and to fully compensate injured workers like Rosa.
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More information:
When I lost my hands making flatscreens I can't afford, nobody would help me, The Guardian, 11 June 2015