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in Taiwan Home PageA melee broke out early yesterday morning among the Samoan and foreign workers at the Daewoosa Samoa garment factory in Tafuna.
A Vietnamese woman, identified as Miss Quyen, eventually lost her left eye that had been seriously damaged in the fight, despite a valiant surgical effort at the LBJ Tropical Medical Authority to save it.
At least a dozen other workers suffered minor injuries. Whether or not they were treated later for their injuries at the LBJ Emergency Room after the melee was not immediately known.
The incident is now being investigated by the Department of Public Safety.
Miss Quyen has also been identified as being at the center of the free-for-all.
Using several sources, including eyewitness testimony from several Vietnamese workers, the Samoa News was able to piece together what allegedly occurred in the garment factory.
(See separate story on the eyewitness testimonies.)
The various sources indicate that Miss Quyen got into an argument with her Samoan supervisor.
To many of the witnesses it was not immediately clear what the argument was about but they all claim to have seen the supervisor, identified in the sworn affidavits as Mr. Nu’uuli, get physically rough with Miss Quyen who has been described as "tiny" when standing next to her supervisor.
This is where it becomes unclear as to what happened next. Throughout yesterday, however, Samoa News received numerous versions of what happened that it took awhile to sort out a plausible turn of events.
Several of the Vietnamese witnesses said that they moved in toward Mr. Nu’uuli in an effort to separate Miss Quyen from him and to shield her from harm.
In immediate response to the small group of Vietnamese workers allegedly rushing Mr. Nu’uuli, many of the Samoan workers allegedly rushed the Vietnamese workers on the theory that he was being attacked by the foreign workers.
That was the flashpoint for a free-for-all to break out in the factory. Several other workers and Daewoosa officials moved in quickly to break it up before it escalated into tragedy, particularly since the Samoans outsized the Vietnamese.
The police were apparently called in by Daewoosa managers and they took control of the situation.
According to the Vietnamese witnesses later, their primary motivation was to remove one of their own from the rough clutches of her supervisor. The move was defensive rather than offensive.
As readers of Samoa News are aware from previous stories, many, if not all, of the Vietnamese workers have been paid little, if at all, of what is due them for many months by Daewoosa Samoa. The tension from that has been palpable and escalating for an equal amount of time.
According to witnesses, the disturbance occurred either just before or just after 9 a.m. After the place quieted down, it was discovered that Miss Quyen suffered a severe eye injury. Her left eye had been cut into, seriously damaging the corona and retina, which eventually could not be saved or salvaged. Her eye was completely removed by surgery. Miss Quyen has since alleged that she had been struck on the left side of her face by a Samoan worker with something. That "something" remains unidentified at press time last night.
Initial reports to Samoa News indicated that police officers removed Miss Quyen and two other injured Vietnamese workers to the Territorial Correctional Facility to await the arrival of an EMS ambulance to take them to the hospital.
Daewoosa workers attorneys Virginia Sudbury and Christa Lin later told Samoa News that their clients "are all terrified of going back to the Daewoosa factory."
Sudbury described many of the Vietnamese workers as being hurt with cuts and bruises. Lin accompanied the Vietnamese workers to the Western Substation where many gave written statements as to what they witnessed and heard.
Several of the statements were completed with different translators including a recent arrival from California, Peter Le, who had traveled to American Samoa at his own expense after reading a notice that Sudbury had published seeking a Vietnamese language translator.
According to Lin, at one point the Samoan police told her that they were going to arrest her clients but she managed to dissuade them by firmly pointing out that if her clients were arrested then the police needed to also arrest the Samoan workers, including Mr. Nu’uuli.
"Christa and I are very upset over this case," Sudbury told Samoa News late yesterday afternoon. She believes that this is just another example in Daewoosa’s continuing efforts to intimidate its foreign workers because of their class action suit against the company.
"We don’t know if this was planned or who is at fault here but what we do know is that a number of workers have been assaulted, with one extremely and badly hurt," she said.
"Christa and I hope that charges will be filed against anyone who caused these serious injuries to the Vietnamese workers," she continued.
"These workers are terrified to go back to work and they don’t feel safe and protected," she added, noting that she has informed her clients not to return to work today.
Samoa News has learned that many of the workers have stayed away
from the Daewoosa compound and are instead being "hosted" in local homes
throughout the community. It is not immediately known how many workers
have not returned to the factory’s dormitories. Currently, Daewoosa has
about 250 foreign workers and less than 50 native islander workers.
Several of Daewoosa Samoa’s Vietnamese workers have accused the company’s owner-president of instigating yesterday morning’s melee between the company’s Samoan and Vietnamese workers.
The melee ended with a Vietnamese worker, identified as Miss Quyen, losing her severely injured left eye after it had been hit during the melee. A surgical team at the LBJ Tropical Medical Authority tried in vain to save the eye but it had to be removed.
(See separate story on what may have happened at Daewoosa.)
The workers accusations against Kil-Soo Lee were included in their written statements taken by police officers from the Western Substation.
However, Daewoosa manager Virginia Soli’ai vehemently denied any wrong-doing on the part of Kil-Soo Lee and the rest of his staff that may have led to the fight among the workers.
Instead, she blamed the workers continuous insubordination for sparking the melee. According to the workers statements, Mr. Lee allegedly told his floor supervisor Mr. Nu’uuli "to beat anybody that won’t listen and that if anybody dies, I will be responsible for that."
According to the statements, the startling alleged instruction was apparently prompted by an argument between Mr. Nu’uuli and Miss Quyen who allegedly had been asked to return to work at her station. Her reply is not immediately known.
However, the statements continue, Mr. Nu’uuli disappeared into Mr. Lee’s office and allegedly complained that the workers were being insubordinate to his instructions. The statements are generally inconsistent as to where Mr. Lee was when he allegedly made his statement - whether he was in his office or on the factory floor with the workers. One or two of the statements indicate that Mr. Lee was not present during the melee. However, the statements do generally agree with the content of Mr. Lee’s statement - that it was "okay for the Samoans to beat up" the Vietnamese workers, that he "will be responsible" for anything that happens.
In his notarized and typed statement, Daewoosa worker Hang Thu Ngo reported seeing his Samoan co-workers "armed with sticks and small scissors repeatedly stabbed and beat the Vietnamese workers" and also saw that "many Vietnamese workers who were bleeding from the mouths and eyes".
Another worker reported that the floor supervisor grabbed Miss Quyen by the scruff of her neck and back of her t-shirt after they argued and roughed her up.
"Vietnamese workers were very angry about the floor supervisor but they didn’t know what to do to help, just look," recalled the worker in her translated statement.
Another worker, 28-year old Trinh Thi Hao, reported that "all the Samoan workers already have a sticks, they are ready. So as a result, Samoans came to beat us up. As I was standing up, watch, one of the Samoan workers pulled my hair out on the ground and hurted me. Then everybody else tried to pull me out.
"The people hit me, I remember their faces but I don’t know their names. My chest is hurting bad now," she continued.
Another 32-year Vietnamese worker claims to been have beaten on the back and recalled what occurred.
The worker said Miss Quyen was sitting on the table waiting for the materials to arrive when the floor supervisor arrived and told her to get to work but Miss Quyen said the materials didn’t come and the quarrel started. The worker claims the quarrel was settled by Mr. Shung, the production manager.
But after that, the worker alleges that Mr. Lee told the Samoan workers to fight with Vietnamese workers and he would be responsible for that. And when Mr. Lee went out the door, the floor supervisor pulled Ms. Quyen’s hair and pushed her.
"My friends and I came to prevent them from fighting. But I didn’t know why there were many Samoan people rushing out with sticks in their hands and fight against Vietnamese workers. I came to my room to take my camera for taking photographs but Samoan people prevented me from it," the 32-year old worker alleges.
A 24-year old worker claims to have seen a bunch of Samoan workers started to fight the Vietnamese women. "In the middle of the mess, I started to jump out to defend them, but the Samoan workers stopped me and started to beat me," said the worker.
"My arms broke due to the beat up. As far as I know, ten Vietnamese speaks English. They told me that Mr. Lee ordered them (Samoans) to beat up the Vietnamese if any of them dies, he will be responsible for it," said the worker.
DAEWOOSA REPLY
So much blame have been placed on the floor supervisor and the Samoan workers. However, the Samoa News was unable to contact the floor supervisor or any Samoan workers last night for comments.
Manager Soli’ai however was able to recount what allegedly occurred and denied several allegations. According to Soli’ai, the floor supervisor found two workers laying on a sewing table in the factory and the two workers said they were waiting for materials. Soli’ai said when the floor supervisor informed them to go and pick up the materials themselves, Miss Quyen started yelling back at him but still would not return to work. The floor supervisor complained to the Vietnamese manager about the problem but no attempts were made to correct it. The matter was then taken to Mr. Shung, the production manager.
Explaining the policies of the company about any of its workforce, Soli’ai said anyone caught sitting around on the job or sleeping, whether he or she is Samoan or Vietnamese, is told to go home.
Mr. Shung ordered that the woman, or whoever is not working, to get out of the factory and to go home. But as the floor supervisor was taking Miss Quyen’s hand to lead her out of the factory, she allegedly threw the first punch and allegedly slapped the floor supervisor.
The ironing department workers saw the foreign workers run towards the floor supervisor with "weapons" such as scissors and cutters to attack him. Allegedly this cause a laceration on the floor supervisor’s face.
As recalled by Soliai, who was not in the area, the Samoans working in the packing department saw the attack on the floor supervisor who was now on the ground and "came fighting with their hands."
"These Samoans work in the packing department and they don’t use any cutters or scissors. They used their hands to help defend the floor supervisor against the attack," Soliai explained.
Soliai said the Samoan workers do not use any sharp items in their working areas and believes it was the hands that did the job.
The allegations that Mr. Lee ordered the beating, Soliai said
Mr. Lee was not even in the vicinity when it happen. She said she and Mr.
Lee were outside of the factory at the time.
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