http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aUbDxIWdQCKg

By Mark Lee and Tim Culpan

March 1 (Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. should disclose more details about its suppliers, workers’ rights groups said after the maker of iPhones and iPods revealed some of its contractors had hired underage employees.

“The suppliers are breaking the law,” said Debby Chan, project officer at Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior in Hong Kong. “Apple should disclose its suppliers list to NGOs to allow more effective monitoring of the situation,” said Chan, referring to non-government organizations.

Apple said in its 2010 “Supplier Responsibility” report that 11 workers aged 15 were hired at three partner facilities based in countries where the legal minimum employment age is 16. The Cupertino, California-based company, which visited sites in countries including China, Taiwan and Thailand for its annual survey, said some employees worked excessive hours, while some were paid less than the local minimum wage.

“It seems like Apple is being much more open about this than other companies,” said Frank Parth, chief executive officer of Project Auditors LLC, which advises companies on project management. “I’ve seen nothing on this topic from Dell or H-P.”

Employees at a southern China-based supplier for computer manufacturers including Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. earn about 64 cents an hour, and may work more than 87 hours, according to a February 2009 report by National Labor Committee, a Pittsburgh-based worker rights group.

Improve Disclosure

Liana Teo, a Singapore-based spokeswoman at Hewlett- Packard, didn’t immediately reply to voice-mails and an e-mail seeking comment. Sharon Zhang, a Beijing-based spokeswoman at Dell, said she couldn’t comment.

“Apple can be saluted for its transparency, but mainly will be criticized for the fact that they’re doing in the East what they wouldn’t do in the West,” said Hakim Kriout, a portfolio manager at New York-based Grigsby & Associates, which owns Apple shares. “This reminds us that potentially many other companies are doing it.”

Large corporations need to have their factories wherever the labor is the cheapest so competitors don’t get a pricing advantage, Kriout said. Apple is probably more stringent than its competitors in vetting its suppliers, Kriout said.

Apple rose $4.37, or 2.1 percent, to $208.99 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares more than doubled last year.

Worker Shortage

Electronics makers typically trail clothing manufacturers in efforts to enhance workers’ rights, said Apo Leong, China coordinator at Asia Monitor Resource Centre in Hong Kong. He also called for Apple to improve disclosure of worker issues at suppliers to enable external monitoring by rights groups.

Jill Tan, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Apple, said the company doesn’t disclose its suppliers as a matter of policy. The company also visited sites in Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Czech Republic, the Philippines and the U.S. as part of its onsite audit of 102 factories, according to the report.

Plants in China’s southern Guangdong province, home to manufacturing facilities owned by Apple suppliers including Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., face a shortfall of about 2 million workers at present, which may exacerbate the issue of underage hiring this year, Asia Monitor’s Leong said.

“I think we are a model supplier within the Apple system,” Edmund Ding, spokesman at Taipei-based Hon Hai said today. The company doesn’t use child labor, he said. Hon Hai has no shortage of labor in China, it said in a Feb. 25 e-mail.

Strictly Follow Rules

Hon Hai, Taoyuan, Taiwan-based Quanta Computer Inc., the world’s second-largest notebook manufacturer by shipments, and Taipei-based Pegatron Technology Corp., the largest maker of computer motherboards, are among Apple’s Taiwan suppliers, Calvin Huang, a Taipei-based analyst at Daiwa Securities Group Inc. said by phone today. Huang said he’s not aware of any suppliers that may have breached Apple’s rules.

“When it comes to labor, it’s more likely for smaller suppliers to break the rules because the larger companies can offer a better package to attract workers,” Huang said. Competition to hire workers may tempt some companies to breach rules, he said.

China prohibits its companies from hiring workers below the age of 16, while the minimum working age is 15 in Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia the Czech Republic and the Philippines, according to data on the U.S. Labor Department’s Web site. In Thailand, children are allowed to work from 13 years.

“We strictly follow the core policies of our customers,” Quanta spokesman Elton Yang said today. The company doesn’t publicly disclose its clients, he said. Denese Yao, spokeswoman for Pegatron, didn’t answer calls to her office and mobile phone.

Other Violations

Apple said it stopped doing business with at least one unnamed supplier after finding repeated violations and “inadequate actions” to address the problems.

The review also found that at eight facilities, including those run by Taiwan-based suppliers, foreign workers paid excessive recruitment fees to hiring agencies to get jobs. The company said employees were reimbursed $2.2 million in fee overcharges over the past two years and that Apple has set a standard limiting such fees to the “equivalent of one month’s net wages.”

“It’s an unhealthy sign, because the factory owners who disregard these minimum age rules may have other violations,” said Asia Monitor’s Leong, who said he was “disappointed” by Apple’s disclosure.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 1, 2010 16:15 EST

Source: Globaltimes [01:45 March 01 2010]

http://business.globaltimes.cn/industries/2010-03/508545.html

By Tu Lei

Apple has admitted that child labor was used in some factories that produced the company’s computers, iPods and iPhones.

Although the company did not detail the names of the factories, nor disclose in which countries the factories were based, the majority of its products are assembled in China.

In the 24-page-report, named Supplier Responsibility 2010 Progress Report released Wednesday, the company said three facilities had previously hired 15-year-old workers in countries where the minimum age for employment is 16.

“Across the three facilities, our auditors found records of 11 workers who had been hired prior to reaching the legal age, although the workers were no longer underage or no longer in active employment at the time of our audit,” said the annual report.

Moreover, Apple admitted that at least 55 of the 102 factories that produce its goods were ignoring Apple’s rule that staff cannot work more than 60 hours a week. The Labor Law in China sets out a maximum 44- hour week for workers.

As the supplier names and locations are not disclosed in the report, it is impossible for NGOs and workers to monitor the accuracy of the report, Debby Chan, a project officer from Student and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour, a Hong Kong-based NGO, told the Global Times Sunday.

“As such, the CSR report of Apple cannot make readers well informed about the real labor rights violations in their suppliers,” Chan said.

In fact, it is not the first time a company has been criticized for using factories that abuse workers and where conditions are poor.

In January, the sportswear giant Nike released Corporate Social Responsibility reports for the 2007-2009 fiscal years indicating overtime in its factories was increasing.

In 2007, there were 110 factories that saw workers put in between 60-72 hours per week, and 27 factories that exceeded 72 hours.

Factories where workers put in overtime accounted for 20 percent of Nike’s total in 2007, and increased to 24 percent in 2009. China has 136 Nike factories.

In July 2009, China Labor Watch, a New York-based NGO, published a report on Wal-Mart’s Chinese supply chain, saying some workers make only $0.51 per hour, 60 percent of the minimum wage. And during the busy season, the workday is 11 hours, or 77 hours per week, and overtime is mandatory.

The CSR reports show the world takes a close look at made-in-China products, said Li Xiaogang, director of the foreign investment research center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Closing Governance Gaps:

Application of the U.N. “Protect, Respect, Remedy” Framework

Expert Multi-Stakeholder Consultation

20 January 2010 in Berlin

Hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Organized by InWEnt - Capacity Building International, Germany

The UN “Protect, Respect, Remedy” framework comprises three pillars: the state duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business, through appropriate policies, regulation, and adjudication; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, which in essence means to act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the rights of others; and the need for greater access by victims to effective remedy, judicial and non-judicial.

The expert multi-stakeholder consultation on 20 January 2010 in Berlin convened representatives from government, business, and nongovernmental organizations that have already attempted to implement or apply some aspect of the UN “Protect, Respect, Remedy” framework. […]

=====

Panel III: The application of the framework to the extended enterprise

Panel III explored the application of the framework to the ‘extended enterprise’, meaning business structures such as supply chains and joint ventures, since those forms of business exemplify the governance gaps that can lead to corporate-related human rights abuse. The moderator was Mr Jorge Daniel Taillant, Strategic Advisor for the Center for Human Rights and Environment in Argentina. […]

The third speaker was Ms Jenny Chan of Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) in Hong Kong. Ms Chan explained that SACOM has traditionally used ‘naming and shaming’ techniques to promote corporate accountability, but recently took part in the HP Labor Rights Training Program (without receiving any funding from the company). SACOM’s work is focused in China, where there are long supply chains, 200 million migrant workers, the younger generation of which has been increasingly active in defining fair working conditions — and in doing so is facing fear and intimidation, which makes the role of NGOs like SACOM critical. HP’s Labor Rights Training Program aims to raise worker awareness, for example by improving grievance

mechanisms in HP’s direct suppliers, and using innovative techniques like collective brainstorming and role play. She stressed that workers often have weak or no representation, which needs to be rectified, and that local governments must strengthen enforcement of their own laws — and that collaboration between local governments and factories should be more common than it currently is.

The plenary discussion repeatedly turned back to the generally underemphasized roles of customers and workers; and of the frequent focus in the business and human rights debate of multinational companies and national governments, when in fact national companies and local laws are as if not

more important. One participant, questioning the commercial imperative of addressing human rights deep into the supply chain, asked whether if a tree falls in the forest and your customers don’t know, does it matter; to which another responded that yes, because ten years later there’s still a gap in the skyline. The effectiveness of Global Framework Agreements was mentioned, as was the importance of a company educating its workers no matter where they reside, and of transparency in publicizing information about working conditions.

“Social inclusion of informed workers hold the greatest promise for change.” Jenny Chan

Summary of the consultation: http://sacom.hk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/20100110-multi-stakeholder-consultation-on-business-and-hrs.pdf

GlobalPost: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/commerce/100125/apple-news-workers-rights

Apple news: Workers’ rights the focus again

Another flare-up hits a Chinese high-tech factory.

By Kathleen E. McLaughlin - GlobalPost

Published: January 26, 2010 12:18 ET

BEIJING, China — Workers at a Chinese factory believed to make electronic components for tech giants like Apple and Nokia are back on the job after a violent strike to protest what they believe was deadly on-the-job exposure to toxic chemicals.

According to accounts from employees and Chinese state-run media, about 2,000 of the 10,000 employees at Wintek’s Suzhou-based factory staged a violent walkout earlier this month when they heard their year-end bonuses has been eliminated.

Tensions at the plant, located about two hours from Shanghai, were simmering for months over the deaths of several workers last summer. Protesters said they believe four co-workers died from exposure to a toxic chemical, hexane, used in LED screen production. Angry strikers vandalized factory equipment and riot police were called in.

“The truth has been hidden from public view. There are people dying from long-term exposure to the (toxin) used in the factory but no one is paying attention to that. There needs to be further investigation,” the official China Daily newspaper quoted a worker surnamed Zhu, who took part in the protest, as saying.

Neither Wintek, which is based in Taiwan, nor Apple, responded to requests for comment. Labor and tech groups say the factory makes touch screens for Apple products, including the iPhone.

China Daily reported that during a local government press conference on the matter, officials said there were no reports of unnatural deaths at the factory. They also said more than 40 factory workers suffered from chemical exposure and were treated and released.

In a written press release, Wintek did not address the chemical poisoning allegations but said workers were mistaken that their bonuses had been canceled. The bonuses will be issued at Chinese New Year in February, not in December, it said.

“Following discussions between the company and employees that were held with the assistance of (the) local government, the issue was settled and there was no effect on production capacity or production line operations,” the company said.

In a five-part series, GlobalPost last year investigated and exposed widespread labor abuses within the Taiwan-based Wintek, chronicling the company’s long history with questionable labor practices in China and elsewhere.

Wintek’s refusal to address the toxins issue seemed to feed the factory rumor mill. Employees 750 miles away at Wintek’s Dongguan electronic components factory said Monday they heard rumors about unusual deaths in Suzhou, and many were worried about their own health.

“We heard a girl died in a strange manner from chemicals at the Suzhou factory, but we weren’t allowed to talk about it,” said an employee of the Dongguan factory who didn’t want his name used. “They said anyone who talked about it would be fired.”

Debby Chan, a project manager for the Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), has helped investigate ongoing problems at Wintek factories. Chan said a lack of transparency and information provided to factory workers made the situation in Suzhou escalate.

“The factory stopped using hexane for cleaning their touch panels, but we’ve heard the workers are still very worried, which reflects a lack of training for workers about health and safety,” said Chan. “There’s also a lack of trust between workers and management.”

Wintek is one of many subcontractors used by well-known brands in the process of making electronics. Workers at subcontracting factories like the one in Suzhou and Dongguan often don’t know who they’re making parts for, and typically have no means to complain to the larger brands about labor violations and poor working conditions. Wintek workers, however, did complain directly to Apple last year about bad working conditions.

Despite better laws, labor violations are rampant across China, especially as companies have cut costs amid declining orders during the global financial crisis. Contracting and subcontracting factories to make electronics piece-by-piece muddies the supply chain, and makes accountability a tricky thing.

Apple’s own internal audits chronicle a pattern of labor violations at factories it uses, including widespread wage and hour violations.

Investigative Report on Hangzhou Coca-Cola Bottling Plant

A Disaster Caused by the Dispatch Labor System!

Coke Concerned Student Group

December 2009

Preface

In 2008, we conducted investigations in five Coca-Cola bottling plants, including two in the Yangzi River Delta (Hangzhou BC Foods, Shanghai Shenmei) and three in the Pearl River Delta (Coca-Cola Dongguan, Swire Huizhou, and Swire Guangzhou). We discovered that in each of the five plants there were severe legal violations – long term and high volume use of dispatch labor, frequent workplace injuries, insufficient safety measures, wage deductions, wage arrears, excessive overtime, etc.

(Translator’s note: “dispatch labor” refers to workers who do not have a direct employment relationship with the enterprise where they work. It is similar to temp workers in the U.S. context.)

After publicly releasing the report in December 2008, there was a lot of media coverage and it resulted in a strong response from society. Coca-Cola had no choice but to respond to us, but they have continually denied the fundamental problem of illegal use of dispatch labor.

In May 2009, we released a second investigative report. Based on our return visits, there was some improvement in conditions for workers at the three plants in the Pearl River Delta, but there was almost no change at all in the Yangzi River Delta plants. Especially in the Hangzhou BC Foods plant, we did not hear of any improvements at all. However, none of the five bottling plants we investigated before nor the two new plants in the current investigation (Beijing and Tianjin) have changed in the slightest with regards to a most basic problem: long-term and high volume employment of dispatch labor.

Thus, this past summer we prioritized investigations in the Hangzhou BC Foods Coca-Cola bottling plant; once again, we were let down.

First of all, there has been no improvement at Hangzhou BC Foods since last year. There has been no reduction in the large volume of illegally employed dispatch workers, wages are still below the legal minimum for Hangzhou, safety is not ensured, and workers do not have insurance.

Second, just when the investigation was about to end, one of the students, Xiao Liang, was beaten for no reason in the office of the vice-general manager of Zhiqiang Company (the labor dispatch company for Hangzhou BC Foods) as he tried to recover his wages. Since this happened, Coca-Cola has been quite inactive in dealing with this matter, and in order to protect their brand image they have put all of the responsibility on Zhiqiang. […]

Full text of the report: http://sacom.hk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/report-dec-2009-eng.pdf

Students & Scholrs Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) as a NGO aims at bringing concerned students, scholars, labor activists, and consumers together to monitor corporate behavior and to advocate for workers’ rights. SACOM currently has a vacancy on:

Project Coordinator (Organizing) /

Project Officer (Organizing)

Duties

As Project Officer, the appointee will be required to:

- maintain an active liaison with potential and established allied groups and coalition partners in Mainland China;

- organize and implement Chinese labor rights campaigns;

- give aid to compile reports on cor1porate social responsibilities and labour rights

- provide assistance to administrative and accounting support to the organization;

As Project Coordinator, the appointee will be additionally required to:

- develop and strategize effective labor rights campaigns;

- write proposal for fundraising purpose.

Requirements

For appointment as Project Officer, applicants should:

- have a recognized bachelor’s degree;

- have good command of written Chinese and Mandarian;

- have a good independent working ability;

- take occasional duties in evenings and holidays;

- be willing to take working travel to Mainland China;

- have interest on Chinese labour rights.

For appointment as Project Coordinator, applicants should additionally:

- have relevant working experience in NGOs OR at least 3 years other working experience;

- excellent command of Chinese and have a master’s degree (research degree is preferable);

- be familiar with the social and political affairs in China

Remunerations

We offer appointee:

- a competitive salary which will be commensurate with qualifications and experience;

- a one-year contract with the possibility of renewal;

- 18 days on-paid annual leave;

- five working days per week and 40 working hours per week.

- medical benefits;

- 1 day menstrual leave (female) and 7 days paternity leave (male).

Application and Enquiries

Applicants are requested to state clearly the specific post applied for in your application, and to state their current and expected salary. In addition, applicants have to write an article on either “Workers Rights” OR “Corporate Social Responsibility”. Please send your application letter enclosing an up-to-date curriculum vitae and the article to us before 25th Jan 2010 by e-mail: sacom@sacom.hk . All the information provided will be only used for recruitment and be kept confidential. For more information about SACOM, please refer to www.sacom.hk.

Christmas greetings!

While customers are buying toys as Christmas presents, Chinese toy workers who are at the bottom of global supply chain cannot share the same joy when they are producing them. To have a closer look at the working conditions of toy workers in China, Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbeaviour (SACOM), investigated two toy factories in China, namely Tianyu Toys Factory and Wai Shing Factory, which are suppliers to international brand name companies, including Disney. In December, SACOM, in corporation of Südwind Agentur, published the report titled “Exploitations of Toy Factory Workers at the Bottom of Global Supply Chain”. The executive summary is attached.

The two Hong Kong operated factories, Tianyu Toys Factory and Wai Shing Factory, have undergone the International Council of Toy Industries’ (ICTI) CARE Process, which signifies they pledge to adhere to the industry’s code of conduct. In reality, SACOM finds that wage of worker is upheld up to 45 days, wage is even deducted due to arbitrary wage system, workers are not protected by social insurances, no pre-post occupational health training is delivered. Even worse, both factories ignore the ICTI’s CARE Process by means of deception during inspections.

“In March, I worked overtime for 2-4.5 hours everyday. I was even forced to work overnight for 3 nights, the longest working hours were up to 28 hours continuously. Nevertheless, I was only paid RMB 1,029,” a worker from Tianyu Toy complained that the wage system was unfair.

“I cannot endure the irritating smell in the workplace, it makes me feel dizzy,” a worker at Wai Shing Factory expressed.

The hardship of workers is indispensible with the buying practice of the international brand names companies which presses down the pricing and compresses the delivery time. The manufacturers usually shift the burden to the workers. Inevitably, workers can only earn a living from overtime work.

Therefore, we demand the brand name companies must rectify the unethical buying practices, assist their suppliers to improve the working conditions, provide labour rights trainings for workers, set up and promote complain hotline for non-compliance of code of conduct and so on.

SACOM wishes that all toy workers in China can be respected so they can produce toys with a joyful heart.

============

Exploitations of Toy Factory Workers at the Bottom of Global Supply Chain

September 2009

Executive Summary

Amidst the global financial crisis, the manufacturing industry in China faces a tough time. The toy industry in China, which is export-oriented, is disproportionally affected. It is foreseeable that toy workers who are at the bottom of the global supply chain are most vulnerable. This report aims to outline the situation of toy workers in China in the aftermath of the financial crises by looking at the relationship between the brand companies and the manufacturers in depth. To have a better understanding about the working conditions of workers, the investigated two factories in Southern China, Tianyu Toys Factory and Wai Shing Factory.

The two Hong Kong operated factories, Tianyu Toys Factory and Wai Shing Factory, have undergone the International Council of Toy Industries’ (ICTI) CARE Process, which signifies both of them agree with the industry’s Code of Conduct standards and pledge to adhere to them. Disappointingly, in both factories, the deception of auditors was reported by workers. This raises our concern over the commitment of the two factories to the Code of Business Practices, as well as to the effectiveness of the mechanism itself.

The following are the key findings in the report.

Contract

In both factories, workers are never given copies of the employment contract.

Working Hours and Overtime

Workers in both factories have to work overtime for 3-6 hours per day, which exceeds the ceiling of 3-hour per day and 36-hour per month as stipulated by the law. Excessive and forced overtime is intolerable in Tianyu Toys Factory. A worker claimed that she was forced to work for 28 hours continuously. Even worse, some of the overtime work remains unpaid.

Wage and Overtime Premium

Wage stubs provide the workers with their working records every month, displaying a clear break down of all parts of the monthly salary. It should include information on the hours worked, the basic wage, overtime remuneration, deductions for food and accommodation etc. While wage stubs are provided to workers at Wai Shing Factory, workers at Tianyu Toys Factory do not receive wage stubs. Workers at Tianyu Toys Factory even criticize the wage system as arbitrary. Moreover, to discourage workers from resigning, Tianyu Toys Factory withholds the wage of workers for up to 45 days.

Health and Safety

Violations in relation to health and safety are obvious in both factories. Both factories do not provide health examination for workers upon employment, and no pre-post occupational health training is delivered. Moreover, personal protective equipment is inadequate or even absent. As such, workers are at risk of occupational disease or work-related injury.

Social Insurances

Social insurances primarily include pension, medical insurance and work-related injury insurance. Employers have inescapable responsibilities to contribute to the social insurances in the light of domestic laws. The two factories are reluctant to cover workers in the social insurance scheme.

Food and Accommodation

Hygiene in dormitory is a major concern of workers. Cockroaches were found in Tianyu Toys dormitories, and workers at Wai Shing Factory suffer from allergy.

Worker Union

Wai Shing Factory workers point out that the worker’s union is not formed by democratic election, and exists in name only. Meanwhile, workers at Tianyu Toys Factory are not aware of a worker’s union.

Deception in Audit

Workers in both factories are asked to wear the whole set of personal protective equipment only when there is a factory audit. Even worse, workers at the two factories are forced to give falsified answers to audit firms. If answers are unsatisfactory, they are punished and fined by the management.

In response to continued advocacy from NGOs, the ICTI CARE Process was launched to monitor the implementation of the industry code. Applicants of the CARE Process receive certification from ICTI after successful auditing. If minor violations are recorded, probationary status will be given. The two investigated factories are examples of factories with probationary status. To some extent, the process is able to detect non-compliance to the code in the factories. However, low transparency is a major pitfall in the system. Moreover, the absence of voices of workers and NGOs must be addressed. In the long run, workers must be empowered through labour law training and the establishment of a system of labour representation in their factories.

Full version of the report can be downloaded at: http://sacom.hk/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/toy-report_final-version.pdf.

[press release]

Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) and Coke Concerned Student Group (CC Student Group) met Cola-Cola and Swire Beverages on 17 December for the issue of dispatched labour in China. It was the first time Coca-Cola and Swire Beverages invited CC Student Group for dialogue since its establishment in December 2008. Conversion plan of dispatched labour to regular employee and labour rights training were the two main agenda items of the meeting. Regreattably, there was no substantive outcome after the 3-hour meeting.

Prior to the meeting, SACOM has been exchanging letters with Coca-Cola and Swire Beverages since Xiao Liang, one of the student-worker, was seriously wounded by labour agency staff in August 2009. From the responses of Coca-Cola and Swire Beverages on 20 October and 28 October respectively, the two companies requested to meet with CC Student Group and SACOM. In the letter, Swire Beverages promised to convert the dispatched workers who have been working over 1 year in their 7 bottling plants in China into regular workers. Both CC Student Group and SACOM took this promise seriously and perceived it as a milestone for the end of usage of dispatched labour in Coca-Cola facilities across China. For this reason, CC Student Group and SACOM accepted the invitation.

“The usage of dispatched labor by Coca-Cola is lawful and reasonable,” May Zhai, Director of Public & Communication Affairs of Coca-Cola, stressed.

Indeed, the Labour Contract Law spells out 3 conditions for the usage of dispatched labour, namely temporary, auxiliary, or substituting, in article 66. Referring to the 3 grounds, CC Student Group cited examples to examine the lawfulness of the usage of dispatched labour in Coca-Cola and Swire Beverages’ facilities. It pinpointed that the there were dispatched workers continuously working in the bottling plants for 3 to 10 years, and majority of workers in the same production line were dispatched workers. Regardless the findings of CC Student Group, Coca-Cola gave the same conclusion, there was no problem with using dispatched labour. Hence, it was unnecessary to discuss about conversion plan.

Whereas, CC Student Group and SACOM appreciated Swire Beverages affirmed that the conversion would be the policy of the company. Disappointedly, when we asked for the details of the conversion plan, no concrete step was unveiled. Also, Swire Beverage reiterated that it would continue to use the dispatched workers as the industry was of seasonal nature. Therefore, it had to hire temporary workers in the peak season. However, the CC Student Group refuted that the usage of dispatch workers were throughout the year including in low season.

CC Student and SACOM noted that workers at bottling plants did not equip with adequate knowledge of labour laws and work safety. Comprehending efforts of CC Student Group and other non-governmental organizations cannot substitute the role of workers in rights-defending, we demanded the Coca-Cola and Swire Beverages to conduct labour rights trainings for all workers in the bottling plants. Further, we urged the companies to publish the curriculum of the training to increase transparency. While Swire Beverages was more open with the suggestion, Coca-Cola did not give any pledge and stated that training curriculum was internal management of the company.

“I am disappointed about the meeting, how can we have dialogue again if there is fundamental difference on the usage of dispatched labour,” Wang Wei, one of the representatives of CC Student Group, expressed.

“How can we trust the words of Coca-Cola and Swire Beverages without seeing any concrete step by the two companies? Inevitably, the CC Student Group has to conduct investigations in the facilities of the two companies. SACOM and our international partners will keep up pressure on dispatched labour which is abused by the two companies,” Debby Chan, Project Officer of SACOM, stated.

CC Student Group and SACOM made the decision that we will not have next round of meeting with Coca-Cola and Swire Beverages until they bring up concrete proposals for labour rights training and conversion plan for dispatched labour.

Contact person:

Debby Chan, Project Officer

Tel: (852) 2392 5464

Email: debby@sacom.hk

Website: www.sacom.hk

Sorry, this entry is only available in 繁體中文 and 簡体中文.

[Press release]

Students in Mainland China Chilled by Disney’s Sweatshops

Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) is delighted to know that Students Disney Watch, initiated by a group of university students Mainland China, was formed in May 2009 concerning the corporate social responsibility of Disney. According the Students Disney Watch, its establishment is inspired by the initiative of SACOM to fight against sweatshops in China. On 27 November, the group proudly published its first report pinpointing the labour rights violations in suppliers of Disney, titled Mickey Mouse Is No Longer Lovely: Labour Issues at Disney’s Suppliers (available in Chinese on its blog: http://disneyxiaozu.blog.163.com; summary in English can be downloaded at http://sacom.hk/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/sdw-labour-report_summary.pdf). Since the release of the report, it has been widely circulated on internet and attracted press coverage. From the information on its blog, more reports are to be released in coming weeks.

The Students Disney Watch is comprised of 10 university students, but they dare to fight against one of the most renowned corporations in China. SACOM would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to the students who investigated the suppliers of Disney as undercover workers in their summer vacation. They investigated 5 suppliers in Shenzhen and Dongguan of the Guangdong Province, including toy, stationery, metal badges and sporting goods factories. As such, the students can get the first hand information from the factories concerned and even comprehended the same grievances as other workers. These experiences deeply imprinted in the mind of every student workers. “Sweatshop” was the concluding remark after working in the factories.

In their report concerning labour rights violations, students pinpointed the problems of high rate of work-related injury, inadequate occupational safety measures, excessive overtime work, deduction of wages, no labour contract heavy punitive fine and so on. Among the violations, work related injury is rampant. For example, at Dream International factory, the injured workers did not get compensation in accordance with the Regulation on Work-related Injury Insurances. A female worker injured twice was even sacked by the factory.

These are not only incompatible with the code of conduct of Disney, but also serious violations of the labour laws of China.

The Students Disney Watch produced this report with good faith to improve the labour rights in its suppliers in China. To this end, the group demands Disney to:

1. strictly comply with the labour laws, especially to sign contract with workers, pay workers timely and without deduction. Compensate the worker if their wages are deducted by suppliers;

2. compensate the injured workers in accordance with law. Improve the working conditions and provide free pre-post trainings on occupational safety, as well as personal protective equipment to workers in order to preclude work-related injury and occupational disease,

3. distribute the code of conduct to each worker at Disney suppliers in China together with the hotline of Disney;

4. support workers to defend for their rights;

5. publish the supplier lists in China;

6. promise not to adopt “cut and run” approach to evade responsibility.

In support of Students Disney Watch, SACOM urges Disney to look into the violations disclosed by the group and assist the suppliers to rectify them. And we look forward that similar initiatives will be mushroom in China.