MCLC: true cost of X-mas toys

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: true cost of X-mas toys
***********************************************************

Source: The Guardian (12/3/11):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/04/chinese-toy-factories-christmas
-disney#history-link-box

Revealed: true cost of the Christmas toys we buy from China's factories
Undercover investigation alleges hours of overtime, late wages and fines
for using the toilet without permission
By Gethin Chamberlain

With Christmas three weeks away, an undercover investigation has revealed
the bleak realities of life in Chinese toy factories serving a market
worth £2.8bn a year in the UK alone.

Big brands such as Disney, Lego and Marks & Spencer pay only a fraction of
the shop price of products to the factories that make their toys [see
footnote]. Last summer ­ as factories geared up to cope with demand for
the Christmas period ­ investigators spent three weeks in the industrial
cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan. In some cases, they found that employees:

- worked up to 140 hours overtime a month;
- were paid up to a month late;
- claimed they were expected to work with dangerous tools and machines
without training or safety measures;
- had to work in silence and were fined up to £5 for going to the toilet
without permission.

Perhaps the most insidious effect of the long hours and poor wages was how
it tore families apart, separating mothers and fathers from their children
for all but a few days a year. Many workers were too afraid to speak to
the investigators from human rights group Students & Scholars Against
Corporate Misbehaviour (Sacom), but two women did agree to talk on
condition that their names were changed.

Wang Fengping, 27, has two daughters, seven and five. They live a 10-hour
train journey away from the On Tai Toys factory. She and her husband earn
£200 a month making toys for Disney and others, but cannot afford to bring
the children to the city. Instead, the girls are cared for by their
grandparents. Wang calls them two or three times a week. The younger one
always asks her when she is coming home. "Very soon," Wang always replies.

The reality is that they will meet only once a year, at Chinese new year.
She keeps her spirits up by telling her workmates stories of how well the
girls are doing at school. Sometimes she sings them songs the girls have
learned at school and then sung to her down the phone. "Our family will
not die from hunger, but cannot be fed with this wage level," she said.

Ma Hui, 25, works for the Hung Hing Printing Group, making items for M&S,
Lego and Disney. She has a two-year-old daughter, whom she had to leave
behind when the child was just three months old in the hope that she could
earn enough to one day return home to set up her own business and reunite
the family. She, too, only sees her child once a year and has hung a
picture of her daughter on the dormitory wall next to her bed.

Sacom accuses big global brands of failing to pay the factories enough,
with workers suffering because factories undercut one another in an
attempt to secure contracts. The report also criticises the industry's own
regulator for failing to clamp down on rights abuses.

Spokeswoman Debby Chan Sze Wan said: "In the run-up to Christmas, toys are
a popular choice as presents for children. They probably bring joy to
consumers and the toy companies, but the workers cannot afford toys or
books for their beloved children.

"The hardship of workers is due to the exploitation in the global supply
chain. If the brands do not raise the unit price and change their
purchasing practices, no structural change in working conditions in the
toy industry is feasible."

Investigators targeted three factories, including On Tai Toys Company,
which manufactures for Disney and a number of other international brands,
and Hung Hing. All the factories are certified as decent toy manufacturers
by the International Council of Toy Industries, which is supposed to
police ethical standards in more than 2,400 factories that employ an
estimated 1.7 million people worldwide. But Sacom has accused ICTI of
permitting "rampant labour rights violations" in factories it has
certified.

At the Hung Hing factory the researcher found that the 8,000 workers put
in up to 100 hours of overtime a month, far in excess of the legal
maximum. Workers say they have to sign a document agreeing to work
additional overtime on top of the legal maximum. The basic wage was £132 a
month (up to £250 with maximum overtime payments) but wages were paid up
to three weeks late.

Workers complained of inadequate training with the factory machines and
last year one worker died when he fell into a machine. They said there
were frequent injuries and concerns over the chemicals used. There were
also complaints about the standard of the dormitories, where water for
washing and flushing toilets is turned off at 10pm.

At the On Tai Toy Company the researcher found that most of the 1,500
workers were aged between 30 and 50, though around 300 students are
drafted in to help cope with the peak season.

The researcher spent three weeks in the factory and found workers put in
up to 140 hours of overtime every month, nearly four times the 36 hours a
month legal limit.

Basic pay is £110 a month, but wages were paid a month late, in breach of
labour law. During the peak summer season workers could make up to £240 a
month, including overtime, but that falls to £140 during low season.

A typical working day during the peak season starts at 8am and does not
end until 10pm. Workers routinely put in six-day weeks, but if the factory
is busy there are no days off.

Workers complained that they were banned from talking to one another on
the production line and were fined up to £5 if they went to the toilet
without applying for an "off-duty" permit. They reported regular burns
from soldering irons and electric shocks from old hair dryers used to set
glue, along with concerns about the effect on their health of unmarked
chemicals they have to work with. The law requires the chemicals to be
identified and for workers to be instructed in what to do in case of an
accident. Up to 10 workers share each 20 square metres dormitory room,
which is fitted with bunk beds. Dozens share the toilet and the outside of
the building is piled deep with rubbish, which is home to rats.

In response to the Sacam researchers' allegations, Disney said: "The Walt
Disney Company and its affiliates take claims of unfair labour practices
very seriously, and investigate any such allegations thoroughly."

Lego said the investigation into working practices at the factory had
raised very serious issues, which it took very seriously and which it had
asked its licensing partner, Dorling Kindersley, to investigate.

"Ensuring respect for workers' rights is very important to the Lego Group
and all our partners agree to adhere to a strict set of guidelines ­ our
code of conduct. The Lego Group requires all of its licensing partners to
give a written assurance that their vendors, too, comply with the Lego
Group's code of conduct, and to audit their suppliers on an annual basis.
Adhering to the code of conduct is something that we prioritise in our
engagement with our partners. It appears that in this case the code may
have been broken and we are addressing this urgently. Once we have the
full facts we will take decisive action."

Dorling Kindersley said that it was deeply concerned by the allegations
and had contacted Hung Hing to express its view: "We have strict ethical
sourcing standards covering all the issues identified by this
investigation. The allegations, if true, would demonstrate a breach of
these standards." It said the factory had recently been audited, but that
would now be reviewed, adding: "Our terms of business are absolutely
clear, that any supplier in breach of our ethical standards is required to
change their practices or face termination."

A spokesman for Marks & Spencer said: "We are a very small customer of the
Hung Hing Printing Group ­ less than 0.5% of its business. We take any
allegation that suggests a breach of our strict ethical standards very
seriously and work closely with all our suppliers, including this factory,
to ensure they adhere to our strict standards."

Hung Hing responded with a four- page letter from general manager Dennis
Wong in which it admitted that workers could be asked to do overtime of up
to 92 hours a month in July and August. The letter said that last month
overtime ranged between 23 and 77 hours. The company said workers who
refused to do the extra hours were not penalised.

It blamed late payment of wages on the complexity of calculating the rates
for more than 8,000 workers, and argued this was a standard industry
practice. It insisted that workers did receive safety training, but warned
that individual managers would be held responsible for future lapses and
would have pay deducted.

The company said that providing water to the toilets after 10pm was
wasteful and that barrels of water were available for workers to use to
flush.

* This footnote was appended on 5 December 2011. The LEGO Group has asked
us to make clear that books are made under licence using the LEGO brand by
the Hung Hing Printing Group. None of the LEGO Group's toys are
manufactured at the site.