Lawless employers, flawed work places
David Barboza,The New York Times
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The investigators also discovered that Liu was hired illegally, at 15, below the legal age limit here. Disney has called the situation at the factory ''unacceptable.''
Chinese workers in an electronic products factor in ChinaLiu Pan, a 17-year-old factory worker, was crushed to death last April when the machine he was operating malfunctioned.
Somehow Liu was stuck in the machine, his sister Liu Yan recalled during a tearful interview in a village near the factory.
“When we got his body, his head was crushed,” she said, adding, “we couldn’t even see his eyes.”
Investigating the accident, inspectors found a series of labour and safety violations at the factory, Yiuwah Stationery, which supplies cards, gift boxes and other paper goods to Disney, the British supermarket chain Tesco and other companies.
The investigators also discovered that Liu was hired illegally, at 15, below the legal age limit here. Disney has called the situation at the factory “unacceptable.”
In a statement issued recently, Disney said it had instructed its vendors and licensees to “cease new orders of any Disney-branded products in the Yiuwah factory” until conditions were improved. A spokesman for Tesco said that company was also working to improve conditions at the factory.
While the accident at the Yiuwah factory was particularly tragic, working conditions elsewhere are worsening. A year and a half after a landmark labour law took effect in China, experts say conditions have actually deteriorated in southern China’s export-oriented factories, which produce many of America’s less expensive retail goods.
With China’s exports reeling and unemployment rising because of the global slowdown, there is growing evidence that factories are ignoring or evading the new law, and that the government is reluctant to enforce it.
Government critics say authorities fear that a crackdown on violators could lead to mass layoffs and even social unrest.
Earlier this month, the government said Chinese courts were trying to cope with a soaring number of labour disputes, apparently from workers emboldened by the promise of the new contract labour law.
The number of labour disputes in China doubled to 700,000 in 2008, the first year the law was in effect, and are rising sharply this year, the government says.
The law requires that all employees have a written contract that complies with minimum wage and safety requirements. It also strengthens the monopoly state-run labour union and makes it more difficult for companies to use temporary workers or to dismiss employees.
Western companies that outsource to China say they have stepped up their monitoring of supplier factories to ensure they comply with the law. But they acknowledge that ensuring compliance is challenging in China.
David Barboza,The New York Times
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The investigators also discovered that Liu was hired illegally, at 15, below the legal age limit here. Disney has called the situation at the factory ''unacceptable.''
Chinese workers in an electronic products factor in ChinaLiu Pan, a 17-year-old factory worker, was crushed to death last April when the machine he was operating malfunctioned.
Somehow Liu was stuck in the machine, his sister Liu Yan recalled during a tearful interview in a village near the factory.
“When we got his body, his head was crushed,” she said, adding, “we couldn’t even see his eyes.”
Investigating the accident, inspectors found a series of labour and safety violations at the factory, Yiuwah Stationery, which supplies cards, gift boxes and other paper goods to Disney, the British supermarket chain Tesco and other companies.
The investigators also discovered that Liu was hired illegally, at 15, below the legal age limit here. Disney has called the situation at the factory “unacceptable.”
In a statement issued recently, Disney said it had instructed its vendors and licensees to “cease new orders of any Disney-branded products in the Yiuwah factory” until conditions were improved. A spokesman for Tesco said that company was also working to improve conditions at the factory.
While the accident at the Yiuwah factory was particularly tragic, working conditions elsewhere are worsening. A year and a half after a landmark labour law took effect in China, experts say conditions have actually deteriorated in southern China’s export-oriented factories, which produce many of America’s less expensive retail goods.
With China’s exports reeling and unemployment rising because of the global slowdown, there is growing evidence that factories are ignoring or evading the new law, and that the government is reluctant to enforce it.
Government critics say authorities fear that a crackdown on violators could lead to mass layoffs and even social unrest.
Earlier this month, the government said Chinese courts were trying to cope with a soaring number of labour disputes, apparently from workers emboldened by the promise of the new contract labour law.
The number of labour disputes in China doubled to 700,000 in 2008, the first year the law was in effect, and are rising sharply this year, the government says.
The law requires that all employees have a written contract that complies with minimum wage and safety requirements. It also strengthens the monopoly state-run labour union and makes it more difficult for companies to use temporary workers or to dismiss employees.
Western companies that outsource to China say they have stepped up their monitoring of supplier factories to ensure they comply with the law. But they acknowledge that ensuring compliance is challenging in China.
