Mr Victor Lo Chung Wing
Chairman and CEO
Gold Peak Industries (Holdings) Limited (GP)
8/F Gold Peak Building, 30 Kwai Wing Road
Kwai Chung, Hong Kong SAR
Fax: (852) 2489 1879 E-mail: [email protected]
8 September 2006
Dear Mr. Lo Chung Wing and Gold Peak shareholders Compensation for excessive cadmium levels and cadmium poisoning We understand that on the 13th September Gold Peak Industries will be holding its AGM in Hong Kong. We wish to take this opportunity to address the AGM in order to express our support for the struggle of workers from several of your company’s factories in China to gain adequate compensation and redress for excessive cadmium levels and cadmium poisoning contracted while at work for Gold Peak Industrial Holding Ltd (hereafter GP).
We are also writing to express our dismay at the commencement of legal action you have taken against three Hong Kong groups --- Globalisation Monitor, Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions and the Neighbourhood and Workers Service Centre ---for their support of the workers?effort in making their case heard. We deplore the use of threatening legal action to silence the legitimate support the groups are showing to these workers. According to many reports, some 400 workers from at least three factories, two located in Huizhou and one in Shenzhen, all in Guangdong province; have been found to have excessive cadmium levels while 10 workers have already been diagnosed as having cadmium poisoning. Numerous statements show that there have been poor levels of occupational health and safety training, education and safeguards in GP factories producing cadmium batteries in the mainland. Several dozen GP workers have indeed already been hospitalised due to exposure to cadmium. The fact that 3 workers of a GP plant in Hong Kong have also been certified as cadmium poisoning and 21 with excessive cadmium level reflects the seriousness of the substandard occupational protection of GP Batteries. In addition to this, GP workers (mostly women) have been ordered to undress and take showers under the surveillance of unidentified persons when they took urine samples for medical check up as required by laws. Since GP batteries plants are responsible to make all arrangement, the GP workers have suspected GP management’s involvement in this insulting arrangement. We understand that it is not the first time that GP workers are denied basic human rights. In September 2004, Gold Peak and the local Chinese government authority alleged that workers, who attempted to complain about the case to central authority in Beijing, could be held responsible for criminal responsibilities?
We are also extremely concerned at reports that GP has sub-contracted cadmium-nickel battery production to another location in Hunan which reportedly has substandard health and safety measures. The compensation fund established in August 2005 has so far been inadequate in providing assistance to the affected workers - according to GP’s own statements; only four percent of the 400 workers affected have so far received funds. In November 2005, workers from GP’s Xianjin and Chaoba factories presented a letter to the GP Fund board managers. The letter included a number of clear and reasonable demands: medical checks for the children of female workers who had come into contact with cadmium, past, current and future medical costs of the workers, the issue of future employment and assistance for the difficult financial circumstances that most of the affected workers now find themselves in.
We remain committed to ensuring justice for the workers and call for the following:
1) Gold Peak should immediately provide the affected workers fair and decent compensation;
2) Gold Peak should stop the humiliating body-checks and provide recognized and professional medical checkups to its workers;
3) Gold Peak should stop threatening its workers and apologize for any harassment, injustice and discrimination directed at them. It should undertake to effect genuine negotiations with the workers involved.
4) Gold Peak should withdraw its legal action against the three Hong Kong groups.
Yours sincerely,
Rev.Jang chang Woen
APWSL Convener