When it comes to inhumane working conditions in Asia, critics tend to focus on the textile industry. But the technology sector is also noticeably earning a reputation for paying little money for long and hard labor at its work sites in the Far East.
The Hong Kong-based human rights organization Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (Sacom) interviewed workers between June and September at two computer parts suppliers in the southern Chinese province of Guandong. According to Sacom and the Berlin development organization Weed, the results are alarming. "Working hours total up to 370 hours per month," Sacom researcher Jenny Chan said on Monday in Berlin. Even accounting for 30 work days a month, that would still be over 12 hours a day, according to the report, "The Dark Side of Cyberspace," which Sacom and Weed published on Monday.
The factories studied are far from back-alley rat shops—they are suppliers for multinational corporations. One of the two factories investigated, Excelsior Electronics in Dongguan, produces circuit boards, graphics cards, and other parts for computers sold by, among others, Europe's Fujitsu Siemens.
Chan argues that the long working hours violate Chinese law. In addition to the normal 40-hour workweek, Chinese law stipulates that a maximum of 36 hours of overtime can be worked each month. She claims that, in many cases, workers at Excelsior have to work up to 174 hours of overtime. During rush periods, especially before the European Christmas shopping season, days off are cut out entirely. Employees at Excelsior must then work seven days a week, the study claims.
In addition, human rights activists complain that employees often don't receive the legal minimum wage. Citing examples, Chan calculates that at the end of the month only a portion of the full salary is paid out—which ought to run to €77 ($105.52) plus overtime pay.
~ more... ~
No comments:
Post a Comment