We want to find comparable factories where working conditions are better.
Contact if you know where they are.
email: dboje at peaceaware dot com
LOST?
CURRENT EVENTS 2008: Nike, Adidas, and other sneaker makers report persistent problems at China factories
Rising Chinese salaries pushes Adidas to look elsewhere: report
Jul 28, 2008 http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jKGxlQWF7mTO3L8twylAgjrUe8Lw
FRANKFURT (AFP) — Adidas, the second-biggest sportswear company in the world, feels that Chinese salaries are now too high and it will transfer some production to more competitive countries, its chief executive said in an interview on Monday.
"Salaries, which are set by the government, have become too high" in China, Herbert Hainer told the business weekly Wirtschaftswoche.
Chinese production of Adidas sportswear, about half of the group's total, "is going to decline," Hainer added.
"We have already opened our first factory in India. Countries like Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will be added," the Adidas boss noted.
"Production will also return to former Soviet republics and eastern European countries," but not to Germany, Hainer said.
Mar 30 2008 - An investigation by The Sunday Times into the workers’ pay and conditions has found apparent violations of China’s labour laws and Adidas’s own code of workplace standards. From The Sunday Times March 30, 2008
Adidas workers on £11 a week in China - Staff complain of terrible conditions in the Olympic sponsor's factories
Workers at the factories in Fuzhou accuse the management of cheating on pay, discriminating against young men and stifling a pioneering attempt to set up a trade union.
They have provided documents appearing to prove that they have to work for more than 70 hours a week to earn a living wage, even though Chinese law limits the average working week, including overtime, to 49 hours. Read entire Times Online story
April 20, 2008 -- PUMA Supplier’s unchanged dreadful conditions
Basic Facts
Taiway Sports LTD is a Taiwanese factory, belonging to the Taiwan Diamond Group. The factory produces mainly sports shoes and ice skates and exports its goods to Germany, Japan and the US. Its primary client is PUMA.
Address: Xiaobian Industrial District, Chang’an Town, Dongguan City
Contact Number: 0769----5536597
Number of workers: About 4,000, with a male to female ratio of 4:6
Wage and Remuneration
With the inflation in varies of commodities during the past few years, it is difficult for average workers, especially Taiway workers who are required to work extra hour for free, to self-sustain or support a family. In addition to the low paid wages, Taiway also posts varies fines in attempt to cover their cost. In Taiway, workers not folding their bed sheets before going to work will be fined 24 RMB, equivalent to six hours worth of wage.
Work Conditions
At Taiway, team leaders and supervisors judge and issue awards to their subordinates not by their work performance, but on their provincial origin. In the factory consisted with employees mostly from Henan and Sichuan province, team leaders and supervisors tend to favor workers who share the same provincial origin as them. Workers working under a team leader whose provincial origin is different than theirs should not expect to receive a fair award or a response for their miscalculated wage. The system has been greatly influenced and corrupted by such discrimination; workers from a province that is weak in numbers at Taiway can only blame their parents giving them birth at a wrong place.
Living and Canteen Conditions
Theft and violence often occurs in the dormitories and work places. Because of theft, many workers who used live in the factory dormitory because of work convenience are forced to rent apartments offsite and pay a significant portion of their wages to avoid their belongings being continuously stolen.
Due to discrimination, workers from Henan and Sichuan have formed their own provincial groups and sometimes fight against each other. Such large scale violence promotes Taiway’s system of discrimination, weakens workers’ desire to work, and endangers the whole factory’s safety. However, without any effective corrective action that would solve the root of the crisis, Taiway now merely rejects all applicants from Henan and Sichuan, thus adding another aspect that contributes to the discrimination at workplace.
Food is an essential element in human’s daily life; the right nutrient enhances immune system, increases durability and the drive to work more efficiently. In Taiway’s canteen, however, workers are viewed as cattle, fed by the lowest quality of food. Many workers expressed that the canteen food tastes like pig food though they have no choice but to continue to eat such horrible food because there are no other restaurants nearby.
Friends, Chinese workers need your help to fight against corporate greed. Please take action now! We sincerely appreciate you help. In Solidarity,
Li Qiang, Executive Director, China Labor Watch
Mar 14, 2008
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Nike Inc (NKE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's biggest sneaker and sportswear maker, said falsified documents, underage workers and unpaid wages were problems encountered at suppliers in China, despite what experts say is one of the top social compliance regimes in the industry.
The Oregon-based company's difficulties highlight the deep roots of some of the problems businesses face in manufacturing in China, particularly at a time of sharply rising costs and a stiffening legal environment.
In its first country-specific supply chain report, which it said focused on China because of the upcoming Beijing Olympics, Nike detailed the efforts it has been making to get suppliers to comply with its code of conduct and Chinese law, including a scheme to monitor Olympics-related suppliers this year.
"As China continues to develop we see progress and best practices emerging. But like our partners in any other country, the factories we contract with in China continue to face challenges as well," said the report, which was released earlier this month on Nike's Web site.
It listed several labor-related challenges, including falsification of factory documents, like payroll records, lack of effective grievance systems for disgruntled workers and hiring practices that did not ensure minimum age standards are met.
The report said China is Nike's largest single sourcing country, with some 180 manufacturers and about 210,000 employees.
Last year, Nike rolled out a scheme to check the identity of some 150,000 of its workers in China, and found 167 cases of people who were below minimum age standards when they were hired but were now 18 or older. Two people were found to be underage.
Wages in some places were not tracking government mandated raises, the report said.
"As multiple factors drive up the cost of business, we find that some contract factories try to avoid making changes to wages in a timely manner," it said.
In 2005 and 2006, Nike "secured" over 6.53 million yuan ($921,300) in back wages owed to workers in China. Last year, it said it recovered more than 500,000 yuan in back pay.
Experts say Nike has been an industry leader in corporate social responsibility. In 2005 it made public for the first time its entire supply chain.
But the problems the Nike report said it was trying to tackle were widespread in China.
Last year, a rights group reported that it had found children working at factories making Olympics bags, caps and stationary.
About one third of Nike shoes are made in China, as is much of the apparel and equipment it sells worldwide.
($1=7.088 Yuan)
(Reporting by John Ruwitch; editing by Kim Coghill)
+++++++++
Nike Still Sees China Labor Challenges
By SARAH SKIDMORE – 10 hours ago
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Despite improvements in worker rights laws in China, Nike Inc. says significant problems remain there in working conditions and with managers not meeting Nike's standards.
Problems the athletic footwear and apparel giant listed in its first corporate responsibility report to focus solely on China include inadequate management, excessive overtime and workers using false documents to get jobs.
Nike said it decided to release a country-specific report because the 2008 Olympics in Beijing are attracting so much attention to China.
Nike spokesman Alan Marks said the problems highlighted in the report are "consistent with the problems we face globally."
But the report also states that "corporate responsibility is a relatively new, rapidly evolving business practice in China. Adoption and understanding vary widely."
China is crucial to Nike: Roughly one in three pairs of Nike shoes is made there. The company contracts with 180 manufacturers employing more than 210,000 workers in China, primarily young women who have moved from the countryside into cities for work.
Critics say the report shows continued shortcomings at Nike on labor rights. Labor activist Jeff Ballinger says Nike still positions itself heavily in countries where workers don't or can't unionize or managers won't bargain to meet worker needs.
"They are hanging on to this wishful thinking kind of other world," Ballinger said.
Susan Aaronson, an associate research professor at the schools of business and international affairs at George Washington University, praised the company for the report and commended environmental and other improvements the company made in its business in China. But she said labor concerns will remain serious in China for some time.
"All the incentives are for companies not to enforce the labor laws in China," she said.
After years of foreign pressure on China to improve its labor legislation, the country passed two new laws in 2007 that are intended to improve worker rights.
One that went into effect this year sets higher standards for labor contracts, use of temporary workers, layoffs and other employment conditions. Some hoped the move would encourage independent unionization in the country. Roughly half of Nike's contract employees in China belong to the country's only government-approved union.
A second law expands anti-discrimination protection for migrant workers and those with infectious diseases, two classes of people who had not been protected from bias.
The report shows there are problems at Nike contract facilities, including management not understanding or implementing moves to meet Nike's minimum standards.
Other problems include falsifying documents such as payroll records, a practice that can hide excessive overtime and inaccurate payment of wages — and help keep prices low.
In many cases, there were problems with workers using false identification as they compete for limited jobs.
A self-assessment program found 167 cases of workers who were under the minimum age to work but are now 18 or older. There were only two current cases of workers in Nike contract facilities under age 18, according the report. There were more than 1,000 other cases of people who were of age but had incorrect information on their identification.
"Although we understand that it is often a slow, incremental process to bring about change, we strongly believe that there is much more that can be done," the report states.
Nike said improving conditions for workers throughout its global supply chain "continues to be one of our greatest priorities."
STORY - Nike, Adidas, and Reebok sell the public the story that they are now reformed, and that their monitoring insures against sweatshops.
Bit of history - It was 1997 that sweatshop scandals in China began to get world attention. Reebok, Puma, and Adidas are not wonitored by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), which they also fund and control. 1999 students around the world organzied on campuses to fight against sweatshop conditions, focuing on the apparel sold in their university. Worker's Rights Consortium (WRC) organized 131 colleges and universites to inspect factories; currently there is not much activity. In 2000 University of Pennsylvania withdrew from FLA after students occupied the president's office for nine days and a nationwide 36-hour hunger strike is staged in support of the protesters. The United students Against Sweatshops became a potent voice in solidary with workers against sweatshops, but that voice if now silent.
For example, "While 131 colleges joined an organization called the Worker Rights Consortium, which was supposed to inspect factories and work with brands such as Nike and Champion to improve conditions, few inspections have taken place. There are now perhaps a half dozen schools actively working to improve conditions, experts say" (Dec 19 2004, Colleges' sweatshop vows fading; Years after pledging to fight for better working conditions, many have let plans slide SOURCE: Hartford Courant, BYLINE: LISA CHEDEKEL, MATTHEW KAUFFMAN).
FLA's 2004 report found significant violations the footwear giant's codes of conduct. Since 2002 FLA is allowed by the footwear corporations to conduct unannounced factory visits. FLA visits 5% of each company's factory base. Apparently the campus apparel watchers have been appeased by FLA monitoring restults. 9 Nike factories, 2 Addidas, & 5 Reebok factories in China were covered in the 2004 FLA report.
Is this more spin? Is the FLA another stooge? "They hire stooges to do snow jobs when the world knows what the truth is," says Trim Bissell of the Campaign for Labour Rights (source).
Top tier versus second tier - As the story is told, Nike, Adidas, and Reebok joined FLA monitoring umbrella, and have reformed their labor practices in China. Now that this top-tier is reformed, they are pressuring the second-tier to follow suit. The second-tier sincludes such as Puma, Mizuno, Umbro and Asics (Source: The Economist, August 21, 2004, U.S. Edition).
See www.Fairlabor.org/2004report China Findings
"To ensure that its suppliers do not ill-treat workers, US retail giant Wal-Mart has 40 inspectors on the mainland; Nike and Disney, 12 each; and Adidas, four, according to industry insiders" (China Daily, 11/30/2004).
LATEST NEWS
Feb 2 2006 New Balance goes to China. See this NICNET report on labor conditions http://www.nlcnet.org/news/china/pdfs/Li_Kai_Report_Web.pdf New Balance claims "Made in the US" label, but this is a deal struck with a state legislature; actually most of New Balance production is outsourced. If you contrast what New Balance claims as its ethical code, with the stage-managed cheers, the ways they union-bust, hire underaged women workers, etc., with this report you will see the difference bewteen IMAGE STORY CONTROL and the COUNTERSTORY resistance of the workers.
Jan 2, 2005 / Agence France Presse -BEIJING- (see other Related stories)
"Ten sweatshop workers in China who were jailed for protesting unpaid salaries have been freed, with seven having their prison terms commuted to suspended sentences, a rights group said Sunday.
All of the workers, originally sentenced to up to three-and-half years, were released on Friday. Seven had terms commuted into nine months' imprisonment, suspended for one year, China Labour Watch said in a press release
The other three were released unconditionally, the US-based rights group said.
The migrant workers at two factories run by Taiwan-owned Stella International in southern Guangdong province's Dongguan city manufactured shoes for name-brand companies like Nike, Timberland, Reebok and Clark, it said."
Jan 1 2005 China Labor Watch
"According to the information China Labor Watch received yesterday, all ten Stella International workers (five from Xing Ang factory, and the other five from Xing Xiong factory) who were previously sentenced to up to three-and-half years? imprisonment after the mass strike in April, 2004 were set free on December 31"
August 27, 2004 Friday/ Nike cited for labor violations overseas; praised for trying to fix them/ RUKMINI CALLIMACHI; Associated Press Writer
"Investigators arrived unannounced at the Nike plant, which employs 1,700 workers in China, on Aug. 14, 2003. Female workers interviewed by the monitors said they were required to take a pregnancy test. If they were found to be pregnant, the factory would not hire them.
Workers also said that if they were late to work more than three times, managers would deduct wages equal to one day's pay. Supervisors yelled at workers, toilets in the women's dormitory were unclean and the factory had not allowed the union to organize.
Auret van Heerden, the president and CEO of the Fair Labor Association, said wage violations are often a problem in China because there are more workers than jobs, but pregnancy discrimination is much more common in Latin America, where factories cannot afford to pay maternity benefits.
According to Nike officials quoted in the report, pregnancy screening is not part of their hiring process, but managers at the Chinese factory do test employees monthly. The report quotes factory managers as saying the testing is in an effort to comply with Chinese labor law, which prohibits women who are more than seven-months pregnant from working overtime.
Nike contends the female workers interviewed by the auditors may have been "confused" by the purpose of the monthly screen, the report says."
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MAP RESOURCES
Press here for click and go to very brief city description map. Press here for another map, with links to particular provinces (includes some cultural info). Press here for more detailed China Map (takes a minute to load). Press here for Lonely Planet China map (can click on cities to get Lonely planet travel tips). China Labor Watch - http://chinalaborwatch.org/index.htm
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List of Known Nike Subcontracting Factories in China (contact dboje@nmsu.edu if you know of others).
"The best estimate is that Nike contracts with approximately 50 hidden factories in China, employing over 110,000 workers. Forty percent of Nike?s footwear is now made in China. Nike also has 70,000 workers in Indonesia, who earn 19 to 21 cents an hour, and 45,000 workers in Vietnam, who earn 20 to 23 cents an hour (Source).
See, Nike Images of Factory Life in China http://www.nikebiz.com/labor/china_viet_pics.shtml Then for contrast, read the following exhibits:
DISCLOSED BY NIKE:
BAISHI INDUSTRIAL AREA
|
Inspection from labor organizations
and Reebok clients. Before visits by human rights or labor organizations
and the media, the factory administration will inform the workers
to "get prepared".
|
|
|
Disclosed
Site by Nike |
Undisclosed
Site - CIC.org Located at south of Huizhou City, Guangdong Province |
|
Factory |
SuperCap Factory (Wei Li Cap Factory) |
Hung Wah Garment Factory Hung Yip Garment Factory |
|
Address |
Chongzhan/ San Xiang- Bai Shi Industrial Area Chongzhan/ San Xiang- No. 2 Industrial Area ZhuHai/ Ja Da Qu |
Huizhou/ Xiajiao- Liuhuzai Industrial Area |
|
Investment |
Taiwanese |
Hong Kong |
|
Products |
Caps (They produce for sportswear TNCs. Nike is one of their consumers) |
Garment e.g. Sportswear, children-wear (They produce for different brand names. Nike is one of them.) |
|
Export |
To the U.S. and Europe |
To the U.S. and Europe |
|
No. of workers |
2,500 2,500 600 |
2,000-2,500 |
|
Gender ratio |
80-90% are women workers |
Almost all workers are women. Only 30-50 of them are men. |
|
Age |
16-25 |
16-32 |
|
Province Origin |
Most from Anhui and Henan Some from Hubei and Sichuan |
Most from Sichuan and Henan Some are locals |
|
Wage |
RMB 300-1000 (USD 37-122), depending on kind of job (Overtime payment is included and all the accommodation & catering fees are deducted. It is the exact amount the workers receive) |
RMB 400-500 (USD 49-61) RMB 600-700 (USD 73-85) [Peak season] (Overtime payment is included and all the accommodation & catering fees are deducted. It is the exact amount the workers receive) |
|
Working hours |
Workers in computerised stitching section: 08:00-12:00, 13:00-21:00 (12hours) Two shifts/ never work overtime RMB120 overtime bonus monthly Workers in the other sections: 08:00-12:00, 13:00-1700 (8hours) Occasionally (not frequently) work overtime but not more than three hours a day |
07:30-11:30, 13:00-17:30, 18:30-22:30 (12.5hours) Workers work overtime everyday except Sunday In the peak season, they are sometimes forced to work overnight For the workers paid by piece rate, RMB 1 is paid additionally for each overtime hour |
|
Working day |
Workers in computerised stitching section: have one day off every 12 working days Workers in the other sections: Six working days a week, day off on Sundays |
Seven days a week Workers can have their one day-off a month at the date when their wage is released |
|
Catering & Accommodation |
Most workers mentioned that the catering and accommodation offered by the factory was good. RMB 135 is deducted monthly for living expenses (i.e. fees for food and dorm) They prefer to stay in the factory to have their meals Four dorms for women & one for men 10 workers live in a room Someone helps to clean rooms |
Most workers live in the dorms offered by the factory where they pay RMB 35 a month 12 workers share a room Seven rooms and three toilets on one floor Windows in the dorms are barred Workers don't like the food in the factory and prefer to eat in the small food stalls outside the factory where the cost is the same as in the factory canteen |
|
Fee/ Fine |
Factory offers RMB 20 as monthly medical allowance and RMB 50 for good performance bonus RMB 1 will be deducted for every minute late |
Once working in the factory, they pay RMB 25 for deposit and the factory ID card. They have to pay RMB 40 (RMB10x 4 months) for a Temporary residence card and RMB 50 (RMB 10 x 5 months) for the annual employment card One-month wage is always withheld by the management Arriving five minutes late to work is fined RMB 10 Entering the factory without factory ID card is fined RMB5 One-day absence without prior notice is fined one-day??s wage (i.e. RMB20 will be deducted if monthly wage is RMB600) |
|
Insurance |
Workers have no idea about it |
Workers mentioned that they were not covered by any insurance |
|
Leisure activities |
There is a basketball court in each campus |
Nil. Workers have no leisure time as they work 12.5 hours a day and 7 days a week |
|
Trade Union |
Workers wondered what a trade union is but claimed there was a worker's organisation which was selected by the management. Monthly meeting is held |
Workers confused about what a trade union is and mentioned that there was no trade union in the factory. |
|
Code of Conduct/ Factory regulations |
Some workers in the factory in Zhuhai knew Nike's Code of Conduct and mentioned the Code's was displayed in the workplace and every worker was given a small card introducing the Code However, they never met Nike representatives |
No interviewed workers mentioned that they had heard of or read about Nike's Code of Conduct. Factory regulations are clearly posted at the gate. One of them states the penalty for arriving late to work (as above) It states that the overtime payment will be calculated according to the Chinese Labour Laws. However, we found it was not the case. According to the laws, working on Saturdays and Sundays should be paid double pay. Regardless of unlawful overtime bonus given by the factory, the overtime work is only defined as work done at night |
October 25, 2002/ Nike, Adidas, Reebok and New Balance Made in China By Li Qiang, China Labor Watch
"My initial visits to the YueYuen factory in November 1999 made a deep impression on me. I entered the factory workshops and saw the production line. I also managed to enter the workers' dorms and talk to the workers. On the same day that I first went to the factory, a female worker committed suicide by jumping off the 8th floor of "B" building, which housed the production line for Nike products. The suicide took place at eight o'clock in the morning on November 1999. T he factory did not know the girl's name as she had originally got employment there by using another young woman's ID card. She was under the minimum age limit of 18 set by the employers and had therefore borrowed the ID card of a woman named Zhong Xiaohong. To my knowledge, suicides have claimed the lives of three workers since 1999." ...
At Nike China factories, "Only interviews and visits arranged by Nike Public Relations are permitted."
How does Adidas respond to media stories? "We also have information on how Adidas deals with media coverage. The story of workers being physically punished at the Yongxin Shoes Factory in Dingshan Management District, Houjie Town was originally covered by Guangzhou Daily (Guangzhou Ribao). After the story came out, Adidas responded by terminating its contract with the factory leaving the workers unemployed once they had finished producing the last 200,000 pairs of shoes This shows how Adidas's media policy can impact on workers in a highly negative manner."
Unanticipated consquences of Codes fo Conduct at China Factories: 'Problem Four: Intensity of Work.
Since the factory introduced Nike code of conduct of the factory at the factory, the pace of work has increased. For example, before the Nike code was applied, because of Nike?s stipulation on overtime working, now the workers have to finish a job in 10 hours that used to take 12 hours. This in effect increases working intensity.
The 95 workers in the formation group were required to finish producing 2400 pairs of Nike shoes before 9:00 pm. After the Nike code was applied, the completion time was changed to 8:00 pm. The yield is the same, but the time is shorter. The factory requests workers to get off work before 8:00 pm. To get round the code's stipulations on working time, management simply increased productivity. If a group can't meet its production target within the required time limit, the group leader and supervisor will be punished, A system that puts further pressure on workers.
"
"It is estimated that Nike workers in China receive at most $1.50 for every pair of Nike shoes, which sell at retail typically for $80 - $120. Nike could easily afford to double or triple what it pays its Chinese workforce. No wonder Nike supports Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China, which would permanently set the rules of trade in a manner that would allow Nike to continue to build its sweatshop headquarters in China. Maybe that's why five Nike executives (including the wife of one executive) have contributed to Congressman David Dreier's American Success PAC. Dreier is the Republican whip behind giving China Permanent Normal Trade Relations. Nike's money works in other avenues of influence as well. Attempts to intimidate universities from supporting an anti-sweatshop investigatory organization, the Worker Rights Consortium, that would actually make its findings public. For more information, contact www.globalexchange.org or www.corpwatch.org" (Source)
There are FOUR Sewon Factories in Northern China, Jiaozhou City in Shandong province. It is at the southeast of Shandong Peninsula and the northwest coast of Jiaozhou Bay. A South Korean-owned footwear manufacturer owns two of the plants in Jiaozhou City. In this one city in China, it is estimated there are 20,500 young women sewing Nike sneakers. The critical issue about the Sewon plants, is that the photos and commentary depicted indicates significant fire hazards plus sweatshop, barracks-style working conditions.
Other sources with similar report on fire hazard at Sewon (1, 2, 3)
Jaiozhou-Economic and Technological Development Zone Jiaozhou Economic Development Zone - Located in the eastern part of the Jiaozhou City proper, the zone is 40 km away from the Qingdao Port, 35 km away from the Qianwan Port and 40 km away from the Qingdao Airport. Its planned area is 9.7 square km (source).
Besides safety violations, there are alleged wage cheating, forced overtime,
and illegal systems of fines and deposits. "A worker at the Qingdau Sewon
Shoes Company told the HKCIC that she must work overtime everyday,
sometimes until 2:00 - 3:00 a.m." (Source,
HKCIC, 2000).
EXHIBIT C: The 1997 Andrew Young Study. He visited four factories in China, four factories in Vietnam and four factories in Indonesia (and spent an average of 4 hours in each one). His travel itinerary was 3 days in Vietnam, 3 in China, and 4 in Indonesia.
NEEDED - trying to find exactly which factories in China, Young visited.
Critiques
HKCIC Report, 1997 - examined workers' rights and working conditions in the factories of five major subcontractors producing sports shoes in China: Yue Yuen, Nority International, KTP Holdings and Wellco. These factories produce shoes for Nike and Reebok. The first two are Taiwanese companies with factories in southern China, while KTP Holdings is a Hong Kong-based company and Wellco is a South Korean-owned company. All the factories are located in Pearl River Delta in southern China. http://www.web.net/~msn/3nike15.htm
EXHIBIT D: Global Exchange is acting for two human-rights organizations in Hong Kong that interviewed scores of workers from four major sports shoe subcontractors in China's southern Pearl River Delta. The four factories, which employ at least 80,000 people, were monitored in 1995 and again in June and July 1997 (Source AP, 1997). Taken from report by Hong Kong-based Asia Monitor Resource Centre & the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee. (Methodology: They conducted detailed interviews with 10 workers in each factory, held discussions with dozens of other workers, and included our own observations).
EXHIBIT E: "Wellco plant in Dongguan County near Hong Kong, owned by a Korean subcontractor for Nike, people as young as 13 reportedly were doing sewing and cutting work, workers said" (Source 1997, HKCIC). Since 1998, Nike claims that it has absolutely no child labor in any of its subcontracting factories. Eight thousand workers (mostly female between 17 & 23) are employed there.
EXHIBIT F: Disney/Nike Contractor Leaves Haiti for China in August 1997, where sewers earn $0.13 per hour. (Source). (Other sources 1, 2, 3).
EXHIBIT G: In December, 1999 and March, 2000, the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee (HKCIC) interviewed workers at factories producing for Nike in China's Guangdong province. Nike contractor (Hung Wah/Hung Yip garment factory) (Source, 2000).
Workers report that they are required to work 12 ? hour days and seven day
work-weeks, with one day off per month at one Nike contractor (Hung Wah/Hung
Yip garment factory). At another factory (Wei Li Textile) some workers report
working 12 hour days and have only one day off every 12 working days. At the
Tong ji
factory, workers report that they typically work 50 - 90 overtime hours per
month. A worker at the Qingdau Sewon Shoes Company told the HKCIC that she must
work overtime everyday, sometimes until 2:00 - 3:00 a.m. "Workers say they
are trained how to deal with the foreign monitors who come into the factory."
(HKCIC Source,
2000).
EXHIBIT H: In The News - China
from Portland OREGONIAN
"Frankly speaking, the pressure is always increasing," said Allen
Lee, a manager at Pou Chen's Yue Yuen factory in southern China. "People
are always talking about human rights and welfare. In 1989, people never did
that. That was my golden time. No one squeezed me." (Source Jeff Ballinger
email alter Sun, 17 Sep 2000 06:56:34 -0400).
EXHIBIT I - CHINA and Labor Policy - Freedom of Association - May 19, 2001
A key issue for Athletic and Campus apparel factories in China is Freedom of Association.
The New York Times May 20, 2001HEADLINE: China Accepts U.N. Advice To Help Ease Labor StrifeBYLINE: By ERIK ECKHOLMDATELINE: BEIJING, May 19, 2001Independent groups, even where the official union is corrupt or fails to protect workers, have been crushed and rebellious labor leaders have been jailed...Mr. Somavia gave the Chinese government a list of 24 prisoners who the International Labor Organization says have been jailed for labor organizing, and asked for their immediate release. In one example cited by the agency, Zhang Shanguang -- who set up an association for the rights of laid-off workers in Hunan Province and described worker protests on an American radio broadcast -- was sentenced in December 1998 to 10 years in prison for "revealing state secrets."
1. Nority International Group Ltd., A Reebok Subcontractor (1995 Study) found wage, overtime, and other Code of Conduct violations in this factory.
Nority Shoe Factory is located in Dongguan, Chang'an County and employs 6,000-7,000 workers, most of whom are women. The factory is Taiwanese-owned and produces shoes for Reebok. We first investigated this factory in our 1995 study and found violations in wages, health and safety conditions. The present study reveals that few improvements have been made.
2. KTP Holdings Ltd.
KTP Holdings Ltd (hereafter KTP) has factories located in Bao'an and Dongguan counties. KTP produces mostly for Reebok, but also for other shoe companies such as Adidas and LA Gear. Orders from Reebok constitute 45-50 percent of KTP's business. The factory in Bao'an employs 4,000-6,000 workers, most of whom are women. Most of the workers are from Hunan, Sichuan, and Jiangxi provinces, and are 22-25 years old. The workers have generally been working in the factory for one to three years.
3. Yue
Yuen Industrial Holdings Co. Ltd., A Nike and Reebok Subcontractor
Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Co. Ltd. is based in Dongguan, near the first Special Economic Zone in China. It is registered in Hong Kong and belongs to a Taiwanese shoe company, the Pao Chen Cooperative. According to a business magazine published recently in Taiwan, the Pao Chen Cooperative employs 140,000 workers in its shoe factories and is the biggest
sports shoe producer in the world. Yue Yuen was established in 1989 and has a contract to produce for both Nike and Reebo
4. 1997 REPORT FROM CHINA - Sunday, September 21, 1997 Study: Chinese workers abused making Nikes, Reeboks Last modified at 11:07 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, 1997 NEW YORK (AP) -- Subcontractors making shoes in China for Nike and Reebok use workers as young as 13 who earn as little as 10 cents an hour toiling up to 17 hours daily in enforced silence, independent observers charge (source).
5. Li Feng Trademark
Manufacturing, Ltd. http://chinalaborwatch.org/reports/lifeng.htm
By Li Qiang, China Labor Watch http://chinalaborwatch.org/index.htm
