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WORKERS in eight Chinese factories making toys for multinational companies are subject to "brutal conditions", according to human rights activists.China Labour Watch said in a report issued yesterday that the manufacturers - which served a handful of global players, including Disney, Bandai and Hasbro - paid "little heed to the most basic standards of the country". The report, which followed several months of investigation, continued: "Wages are low, benefits are non-existent, work environments are dangerous and living conditions are humiliating."The report comes as Chinese exports are under scrutiny over safety concerns a week after Mattel recalled millions of toys, including 436,000 die-cast toy cars from its "Cars" line, because they may contain excessive amounts of lead.China has also been hauled over the coals for the safety of food, drugs and other exports, ranging from tyres to toothpaste. Officials have been quick to say that the vast majority of the country's exports meet standards.The report concluded that "short-sighted policies" drive major companies to "turn a blind eye to safety - and to ignore the labour conditions in their supplier factories as well".It said: "Instead of concentrating on improving product safety and workers' lives, companies spend their energy creating beautiful pamphlets on social responsibility, disputing critical reports and shifting blame."Walt Disney Company International said it and its affiliates took claims of unfair work practices seriously, investigating any such allegations thoroughly and taking remedial action."We have a firm commitment to the safety and wellbeing of workers," said a spokeswoman.Hasbro could not be reached for an immediate comment, while Japan's Bandai declined to comment.China Labour Watch listed steps big international firms should take, including: pay supplier factories a reasonable price for their products, help the factories to correct violations and take responsibility for suppliers that break legal standards. They should also pay better wages and publicise the results of factory audits, it said.Many foreign companies and experts in Chinese manufacturing say it can be hard to verify whether or not a supplier is living up to commitments to meet workplace and environmental standards.Suppliers, including some named in the China Labour Watch report, sometimes train employees how to answer questions during inspections and many keep two sets of accounts to fool auditors.Industry experts also say some manufacturers show off clean, inspection-passing facilities to international clients, but subcontract work to hidden, substandard production lines that are cheaper to run.In the Pearl River delta, a manufacturing hub on the southern coast near Hong Kong that drives much of China's spectacular growth, working conditions have "improved somewhat" in recent years but remain poor, China Labour Watch said.The group said it saw quality problems like Mattel's as "a result of multinationals' single-minded pursuit of ever-lower prices."To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
