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Telex: Samsung poisoned its Göd plant workers for years with the Orbán cabinet’s help – updated
An in-depth investigation reveals how the Göd Samsung plant did little to protect its workers from airborne carcinogenic cathode materials, and how it concealed from authorities that hundreds of employees were being put at risk week by week, month by month. According to Telex, government connections helped them, always sweeping problems under the rug. This continued until secret data collection was launched and nationwide public anger against battery plants began to rise.
Samsung in Hungary: from TV panels to batteries
Telex’s thorough piece details the numerous poisonings experienced at the Göd plant, including their governmental connections. The author spoke to many sources with direct knowledge of the case; in other instances, they deduced certain links from available materials, such as corporate minutes.
Göd is a charming small town on the Danube in Pest County, not far from Budapest, before the bend in the river, on the left bank. In 2001, during the first Orbán government, the South Korean Samsung established itself on the town’s outskirts, initially producing CRT screens, plasma TV panels, and mobile phone displays. There were no issues at first, until production was shifted to batteries and scaled up.
Manganese, nickel, and cobalt in the air
According to Telex, three extremely toxic, carcinogenic substances are used in powder form to manufacture the cathodes for the batteries: manganese, nickel, and cobalt. The factory’s mixing unit, which blends these powders, makes the workplace particularly dangerous; workers would have to enter in full protective clothing, i.e., as seen in films, completely shielded from the outside world. Moreover, the entire plant should be equipped with high-capacity air purification, since the fine powders become airborne during mixing, which is unavoidable.
However, none of these measures were adequate for the multinational. Telex’s sources say the air‑purification system from the CRT plant was retained instead of installing air‑filtration equipment suitable for battery production costing tens or hundreds of millions. As a result, these systems could filter out the 2.4-micrometre average particle size, but the nickel, cobalt, and manganese powders were far smaller, around 0.3 micrometres. There are also photographs showing that workers in the mixing section wore not protective suits but merely medical masks, offering little protection.
More than every tenth worker exposed
It’s no surprise that occupational safety checks uncovered numerous infringements, but under the relevant laws the company could only be fined 10 million forints. And that was merely the tip of the iceberg: internal investigations revealed even more serious poisonings that authorities did not know about. In one instance, the concentration of toxic dust exceeded the limit by 510 times, a fact confirmed by the company’s own minutes. Many people could have been affected. A batch compiled by the newspaper shows, “In 2022, of the plant’s 2,159 workers, 857 were tested, and among them 98 had quantities of chemicals exceeding the limit. That is 11 per cent of staff.”
After an opposition mayor was elected in Göd in 2019, the government, within a few months, designated the area a special economic zone, effectively making the Pest County Government Office responsible for ensuring the company complied with safety rules and did not imperil its workers’ health.
Samsung knew what the problem was – but did nothing
Yet safety inspections found the firm had known since at least 2021 that its air‑purification system was inadequate, and did nothing. Telex’s sources say this was because there were powerful supporters inside the government backing the investment, notably Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó by name. Consequently, although by spring 2023 the plant could have been shut down for repeated and serious breaches of safety rules and misleading the Hungarian authorities, nothing happened beyond a 10 million forint (EUR 26.534) fine.
Despite this, the plant did not invest in a remedy, even though 2021 and 2022 had seen enormous growth in production and sales of batteries, meaning there was ample capital for the needed improvements, Telex claims.
Secret data collection
The matter reached the government in spring 2023 after a third safety inspection. Before that, the Constitutional Authority (Alkotmányvédelmi Hivatal) had been examining and conducting secret data collection, as it believed Samsung was deceiving Hungarian authorities, a suspicion that proved well founded.
The reports I get from someone inside Samsung is that you have a hierarchy with the Koreams naturally absolutely flush like royalty having a great time. Hungarians are kind of what the pyramid stone pulling Jews were for the Egyptians – dirt cheap labour. There is a culture of sexism with Hungarian women at the very bottom. Hungarians for Samsung are what pretend American Mouton refers to as “Negroes”.
Great example of the eastern investors who, according to some commenters, will replace any “western elite” investors, that might leave Hungary due to Fidesz unstable authoritarian ruling.
I feel so sorry for all the factory workers, Hungarian and migrant workers, who have been exposed to poison under the watchful eye of Fidesz-selected authorities.