An American group by the name of the National Labor Committee (NLC) has just released a shocking in-depth report on working and living conditions for factory workers in one particular ‘hi-tech’ plant in Dongguan, southern China, which makes computer keyboards for Lenovo, HP, Dell, IBM, and Microsoft.
The deeply alarming report was compiled after months of secret, insider leaks – with the help of a couple of the Chinese factory workers and reveals a prison-like regime of misery, faint intimidation, squalid conditions (for which they must pay rent), strict fines for the tiniest mistakes, dreadful food, illegal lack of insurance, 80-hour work weeks, ‘Big Brother’-esque monitoring, hard wooden stools without backrests for the duration of their 12-hour day, and frequently stolen/unpaid wages which sometimes amount to as much as 20% knocked-off their already inadequate wages.
And that’s not the whole of the hell. The NLC (whose mission statement declares that it aims to “help defend the human rights of workers in the global economyâ€) has posted their full report – view here on the NLC website, or get their report PDF here instead – comes with spy shots from inside the factory, quotes from actual workers at the MeiTai factory – for that is the name of the Chinese factory that produces these keyboards for Lenovo, HP, Dell, IBM, and Microsoft – and is well worth a dedicated read-through. Even if you think you know that life can be tough in China’s workshops, you will still be outraged at the conditions and injustices faced by the factory workers.
At one point, the NLC deliberately juxtaposes quotes from one of the plant’s workers with a soundbite from the CEO of Microsoft:
“The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.â€
-Bill Gates“We feel like we are serving prison sentences.â€
-Meitai factory worker making Microsoft keyboards
A few more sobering quotes, from several separate workers:
* “We are not human…â€
* “My hands are moving constantly and I can’t stop for a second. Our fingers, hands and arms are swollen and sore.â€
* “We have to beg the boss for mercy…â€
Apart from slipping that Bill Gates line in, there is no melodrama in the NLC report, and none is needed, as the snapshots of conditions and internal documents smuggled out of the plant, in conjunction with the detailed depiction of the military strictness of daily life, do enough to raise the right questions and the necessary soul-searching that any humane individual will feel the need to do. For, as consumers of these products, demanding them at the lowest possible prices, we’re in some measure complicit in the turning of the screw on these factory workers, going on right now as you read this.
Surely the huge companies involved, which include the Chinese Lenovo brand, and the American giant Microsoft Corporation, cannot ignore – and cannot be unaware of – such conditions, several of which are blatantly illegal, and most of which are inhumane. Not even cultural differences can explain away the conditions in the MeiTai factory, although monitoring and cramped communal living may be normal in China.
So, how do you feel, as a consumer of such products, or perhaps even having bought one of the devices that have passed under the exhausted fingers of the MeiTai workers? And how should consumers be forcing the global corporations involved to make humane improvements to their workshops?
Because right now these workshops look more like sweatshops; or, indeed, prisons.
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I wonder what Chinese government will do about this. Does this report have a Chinese version?
the chinese version is that everthing is fine they dont wont people knowing about this duhhh
This is disgraceful, and heads should and must roll. Fortunately here I use a Samsung box, Sony mouse, HP laser printer and a Logitech keyboard, so I *hope* I’m not part of this slavery loop.
Innovative idea – as part of their punishment, company executives involved should be strictly forced by the court for them to live in the workers barracks, eat their food and work the 12 hour shifts with the same daily production quotas for a month, every day with no days off.
Then NOT get paid.
THAT might send a chill down the cartilege of the spineless. A little reminder to the rest perhaps ?
Cruel and unusual ?
In this economic environment, the workers (barely educated) can’t just quit and walk away, go back to the village. Any job is better than no job and the bosses know this = exploitation. Angry.
J.
@Ella: that American NLC seems to have only produced the report in English. Also, it seems not to be in any mainstream media this morning. I stumbled across it whilst browsing the eclectic BoingBoing blog (http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/09/ghastly-working-cond.html).
@Jamieson: I like your idea of potential punishment, but, alas, I reckon that none will be forthcoming. As for “In this economic environment, the workers (barely educated) can’t just quit and walk away, go back to the village. Any job is better than no job and the bosses know this = exploitation.” – I entirely agree, and even more so in 2009 when most factories will not be recruiting at all, due to the huge slump in exports.
Right, let’s blame it on the Chinese. I’m sure we – and not least all the others in US and Europe – are prepared to pay triple prices for our next netbook because that’s the heart of the matter.
No, please try to convince me that factory owners are the only ones to profit from such hilarious working and living conditions.
This being said, I’m as outraged as the lost Laowai but I do know my bibles – the economic ones as well as the ethical ones.
@Steven: Definitely a horrible situation, thanks for posting it here. I agree with Ella – a Chinese version is essential. Though injustices like this may have been easily hidden from the public eye in the past – it’s certainly not the case now with the Internet and a generally more liberal media. If the information is simply spread among Westerners, it does little but fuel a negative stereotype of a poor, disadvantaged China.
@FaDanRen: What are you on about man? The report and the post above both clearly put some of the responsibility on the consumers (both wholesale and retail). However, at the end of the day, it’s Chinese being abused by Chinese – a good chunk of that blame needs to be placed there.
this is China. in fact, not only the factory workers, but also the construction workers(my father is one of them) and many of the chinese teachers(i was one of them). working 80 hours a week is not a big deal in China. you guys heard the black brick factory? they enslaved dozens of their fellow countrymen, beaten ’em to death. justice is too expensive here. we feel hopeless sometimes when reading such news. so what? it is too common to see them, not news anymore.
here is a website devote to translating the english news,they are tens of thousands of Chinese university graduate volunteers. you can recommend the texts, and soon they will be a chinese version.
http://www.yeeyan.com
by the way, there already is Chinese news coverage (by one of the three biggest portals)here:http://tech.163.com/09/0213/16/521V1GS0000915BD.html
i can translate some of the 3592 comments for you.
“americans are son of bitch”
“americans are son of bitch? why only americans reveal such black curtain”
“does China has union?”
“yes we do, only used to beat the workers”
“chinese are accustomed to slaves”
I think it is true. because I living and working in DongGuang of sourthern china too. I once worked in cell of Philips and working in cell of TDK group now. I never feel any well-meaning job to chinese workers expecial operators by high-tech Corp.
I come from China, working in a factory and responsible for exporting products as a saleswoman. Actaully you can find so many factories in China like this factory. Some factories cannot get big order, because their labor is a little higher and the price is a little higher as well. Buyers usually compare the prices from different factories, and select the one, which can bring the highest profit. All bosses here also perform carefully, they pay attention to all taches. Although they control the material buying, technology, extra cost, finally the profit is from labor cost. Who can change this? When I graduate from college, I worked in this factory, and we have to stay in the production line for at least one month to know the products and the production process. We only have a rest at Sunday night. From Monday to Saturday, we produced from 8:00~12:00 am, 1:30~5:30 pm, 7:00~9:30 pm. And the labor cost is 8:00am ~ 5:30pm; RMB2 each hour; 7:00~9:30pm RMB4 each hour. And the workers has to pay the food, and the dormitory. Usually you pay RMB10 for food for one day, and RMB20 for dormitory(8 persons use one room). Most of the workers come from villages, and most of them cannot pay the education cost. Especially the girls, their parents leave the educational opportunity to their brothers, because they’re the sons. But in China, you must face with the population problem, actually the working opportunity is not enough. When I was a child, people work 8 hours, and 6 days every week, and the life is not so fast, although we were poor, but everybody has similar wealth. At that time, a college was respected and admired, because after 10 years harding working in study, you’ll get a stable job. Your knowledge was respected as well.At that time”knowledge ccan change fate”.
Injustice is everywhere it only gets worst with recession. If we can do something about you we must do but this recession will make matters worse.
i am in china and also chinese
i doublt whether the report is sooth or not ?
nowadays in a great measure it’s impossible in china
you can analysis from the angle of the labor
if you are them can you work like that ?
You must realize that everyone has resistance
Discussing about this unbalanced reporting is ridiculous
Padom, Google Translate is not your friend.
I think it’s very messed up… I’m fourteen and I nearly CRIED just reading about the horrible conditions these people are working under. It’s just terrible. I think anyone who thinks it okay and should be allowed should have to work under the same conditions. END OF STORY. I will pray for them. I saw others’ comments and they only think it’s messed up… I too think the same thing but I will also pray, it’s a little more productive
If there was some news of this on a Chinese website, it would be censored by the Chinese Government. The chinese workers are not allowed to complain… that is against the rules in communist society. Punishment comes for complaining.. They have to just grin and bear it.
Sad, but freedom doesn’t exist in communist empires. Freedom is considered the enemy of socialist states. Workers are worked like crazy for the strange Communist/Capitalist mix that is happening in China.
I hate people like you who believe socialism is a terrible govt just because you think china is in a terrible state you know china used too be not comunist but they were worse of then they are now another example Yugoslavia a strong communist rule made racism dissaper in those areas tell Tito died making huge mass genocides made by serbians and Albanians just because china has bad factory confound dosent matter there are worse problems in the world how bout Africa some rural areas probably make this money and don’t know when there next meal is .
All I’m saying is people automatically associate communism as bad for no reason other than there not. You wouldn’t be reading this if it wasn’t communist
Longest. Sentence. Ever.