[PEN-L:9599] Re: Re: The Culprit is Disney

[Ken Hanly <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Given that Disney clearly violates  Chinese labor laws why does China not compel
Disney to follow those laws? As long as Disney is able to operate in China with
impunity when it breaks Chinese law, it seems that the Chinese govt. is tacitly
approving of violation of its own labor laws.
   Cheers, Ken Hanly

Henry C.K. Liu wrote:

> Note the following setence in the letter:
>
> workers illegally forced to pay an "entrance fee" to secure their job
>  No benefits are paid, despite the legal obligation of the factory to do so.
> The workers receive no benefits, despite the fact that under China's labor
> law, the factories are mandated to provide health insurance and other
> coverage.
> Here too, all overtime is illegally paid at just 10 cents an hour above the
> base wage, and not the time-and-a-half, or double time mandated by China's
> laws
>
> Notice the repeated reference to the violation of Chinese Labor Laws.
> This letter is written by one of the anti-China Human Right Groups in
> cooperation with American Labor.  Yet it could not bring itself to balme labor
> abuse on Chinese law or policy, not even China's lack of "democracy", as some
> did on this "leftist" list.
> Labor abuse is the child of neo-liberal globalization, justified by infamous
> Summers' World Bank memo.
> I challenge anyone to produce evidence of labor abuse in any SOEs.  There are
> labor unrest in the SOE because many workers do not get paid because of the
> lack of funds.  The government has repeated urged SEOs to pay worker in
> accordance to law.  Everywhere one can find labor abuse in China, one finds a
> Western connection.  The worse cases take place on US territory, an island in
> the Pacific and Sanpan (Spelling?).
>
> I am rather tired of self-styled leftists who admit they don't know much about
> China, but hold unshkable negative opinions about China on "principle".
>
> Henry C.K. Liu
>
> "Henry C.K. Liu" wrote:
>
> >                                                          NATIONAL LABOR
> > COMMITTEE
> >                                                                   IN
> > SUPPORT OF WORKER AND
> >
> > HUMAN RIGHTS
> >
> > 275 Seventh Avenue, 15th Floor
> >
> > New York, NY 10001
> >
> > Tel: 212-242-3002
> >
> > Fax: 212-242-3821
> >  Board of Directors
> >
> >  Chairman
> >  Father James Joyce
> >  New York Province of Jesuits
> >
> >  Elaine Bernard, Ph.D.
> >  Harvard University Trade Union
> >  Program
> >
> >  Reverend David Dyson
> >  People of Faith Network
> >  Lafayette Avenue Presbytarian Church
> >
> >  Juan Gonzalez
> >  Daily News
> >
> >  L.J. Hopkins
> >  General Board of Global Ministries
> >  Women?s Division,
> >  United Methodist Church
> >
> >  Janine Jackson
> >  Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
> >
> >  Jay Mazur
> >  Union of Needletrades,
> >  Industrial & Textile Employees
> >
> >  Josephine Moreno Ph.D.
> >  Department of Textile, Fashion,
> >  Merchendising & Design
> >  Univerity of Rhode Island
> >
> >  Karen Nussbaum
> >  Working Women?s Department,
> >  AFL-CIO
> >
> >  Michael Ratner, Esq.
> >  Center for Constitutional Rights
> >
> >  Jack Sheinkman
> >  Amalgamated Bank
> >
> >  Executive Director
> >  Charles Kernaghan
> >  National Labor Committee
> >
> >                       March 4, 1999
> >
> >                       Mr. Michael Eisner
> >                       Chief Executive Officer
> >                       Walt Disney Company
> >                       South Buena Vista Street
> >                       Burbank, CA 91521      fax/818-846-7319
> >
> >                       Dear Mr. Eisner:
> >
> >                        Something is seriously wrong.  On the rare
> > occasions that independent human rights organizations can actually locate
> > specific factories in China where Disney toys, clothing and shoes are
> > being made--hidden among 44,000 apparel factories--and have the chance to
> > meet privately with the workers in a safe location, evidence consistently
> > emerges of serious human rights violations and sweatshop abuses.  The
> > longstanding systematic violations of human and worker rights at factories
> > in China working under contract with Disney include:  excessive forced
> > overtime, up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, amounting to 112-hour
> > work weeks; pitifully low wages (e.g. 12 cents an hour);  no benefits;
> > even being shortchanged legal overtime premiums and receiving instead only
> > six to eight cents an hour above the base pay for overtime work;  workers
> > being housed in primitive, crowded dorms--in one case eight women crammed
> > into a tiny room measuring 5 by 10 feet; workers illegally forced to pay
> > an "entrance fee" to secure their job;  and, most importantly, the
> > repression, fear and total denial of worker rights.  Everyone working on
> > Disney products in China knows that if they are even seen discussing
> > factory conditions they can be fired.
> >
> >                        Recent reports by two very highly respected
> > independent human rights organizations based in Hong Kong, the Christian
> > Industrial Committee and the Asia Monitor Resource Center, have again
> > documented the widespread systematic abuse of human and worker rights at
> > factories producing Disney goods in southern China.  ("Working Conditions
> > in Chinese Factories Making Disney Products," Hong Kong Christian
> > Industrial Committee, February 1999 / "The Working Conditions of The Toy
> > Industry in China," Asia Monitor Resource Center and the Christian
> > Industrial Committee, November 1998).
> >
> >                       It is important to highlight their findings
> > regarding Disney production in China.
> >
> >                       Guo Nian Garment Factory:
> >
> >                         Two hundred women sewing Disney garments are
> > forced to work up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to
> > 2:00 a.m. or even 3:00 a.m. the following morning.  Especially during the
> > peak season, it is common for the women to be obligated to work 112 hours
> > a week.  (Daily shift: 8:00 a.m. to noon / 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. / 8:00
> > p.m. to 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m.)
> >
> >                         Wages paid at the factory are as low as 12 ½ cents
> > an hour, or just $13.90 for 112 hours of work.
> >                       However, after the factory deductions for food and
> > water, the women are left with only $11.81 for the entire week.
> >
> >                         Rather than pay the legally mandated 50 to 100
> > percent premium for overtime hours, the factory shortchanges the women,
> > paying instead just a 10 percent premium above the base wage.
> >
> >                         Payment of wages at the Guo Nian factory are
> > typically held back two to three months, leaving the workers without money
> > and virtually in the position of indentured servants.  The workers receive
> > no benefits, despite the fact that under China's labor law, the factories
> > are mandated to provide health insurance and other coverage.
> >
> >                         Upon entering the factory, new workers are
> > illegally charged an "entrance fee" which amounts to 1 ½ months' wages.
> > The women are fined up to three days' wages for missing one day's work.
> >
> >                         At the Guo Nian Garment factory the workers are
> > illegally denied their work contracts, which would provide them with some
> > security against abuse.  No independent union is allowed at the factory.
> >
> >                       Sheng Li Factory:
> >
> >                         Approximately 80 mostly-women workers sewing Micky
> > Mouse clothing are forced to work 69 hours a week, though in the peak
> > season they are obligated to work 80 hours a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30
> > p.m., seven days a week.   (Daily Shift: 8:30 a.m. to noon/1:30 p.m. to
> > 4:30 p.m./6:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.)
> >
> >                         Wages paid at Shen Li are as low as 20 cents an
> > hour, or $13.90 for a 69-hour work week.
> >                       However, after factory deductions for dorm and food
> > expenses the workers are left with only $11.12 for the entire week's work.
> > The highest wage paid in the factory was just 28 cents an hour.
> >
> >                         The legal overtime wage is not paid, with the
> > workers receiving just 10 cents an hour extra for overtime.  Nor are the
> > workers provided any of the legally mandated benefits, including medical
> > insurance, which the company refuses to pay.
> >
> >                         The workers are housed in crowded dorm rooms, with
> > five women sharing a 10-by-10-foot room.
> >
> >                         The workers interviewed at Shen Li had never heard
> > of, let alone seen, the Walt Disney Company Code of Conduct, which is
> > supposed to guarantee their rights.  The workers explained that even after
> > six and seven years of factory work, the wages they earned were so low
> > that they were having a difficult time just surviving, and that despite
> > constant sacrifices they were unable to send even a little money home to
> > their families.
> >
> >                       Midway Daily Products, Ltd.:
> >
> >                         Six hundred workers sewing Disney clothing, shoes
> > and dolls work 50 hours a week, except during the peak season when they
> > are forced to work 79 hours a week, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., seven
> > days a week. (Daily shift: 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m./1:15 p.m. to 5:00
> > p.m./6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.)
> >
> >                         Here too, all overtime is illegally paid at just
> > 10 cents an hour above the base wage, and not the time-and-a-half, or
> > double time mandated by China's laws. The base wage in the factory is as
> > low as 17 cents an hour, or just $8.34 of the over-49-hour work week. The
> > average wage in the factory is just 33 cents an hour. No benefits are
> > paid, despite the legal obligation of the factory to do so. The Midway
> > factory does not even cover the medical expenses for workers injured on
> > the job.
> >
> >                         The fine for reporting 15 minutes late to work is
> > the loss of these day's wages. The third time you miss a day's work you
> > are immediately fired.
> >
> >                         Midway also illegally charges an "entrance fee" to
> > all new workers entering the factory.
> >
> >                         The dorms are so crowded and primitive that the
> > women are housed eight to a tiny 5-by-10-foot room.
> >
> >                         An independent union is not permitted at Midway.
> >
> >                       Chi Li An and Fei Fan Footwear Factories:
> >
> >                         Workers at Chi Li An and Fei Fan sewed Disney
> > shoes until one night in July 1998, when the factory manager ran off,
> > stealing $48,000 in back wages owed to the workers along with the illegal
> > "entrance fees" he charged to all new employees.  The workers lost
> > three-and-a-half months' wages and have yet to be paid for the Disney
> > shoes they made between April and mid-July of 1998.
> >
> >                         A Government Labor Tribunal found that the Fei Fan
> > Footwear Factory alone owed its 158 workers $33,488 in unpaid wages.  When
> > the factory equipment was seized and auctioned off, the workers were still
> > only able to recover $15,873, less than half of what was owed to them.
> >
> >                         Altogether, the workers are still owed $32,107,
> > which they are desperate to recover.  This might not seem like a lot of
> > money to a company like Disney, which reported a 3.2 billion profit in
> > 1998, but for the workers it is a matter of life and death. The Disney
> > Company should immediately reimburse the workers for all unpaid wages for
> > the period they were sewing Disney shoes.
> >
> >                       Laxo Toys Ltd.:
> >
> >                         Three hundred mostly-women workers are forced to
> > work seven days a week sewing Mickey Mouse toys, from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00
> > p.m. Monday through Saturday, putting in daily 13-hour shifts, except on
> > Sunday when they are required to work just an eight-hour shift. (Daily
> > Shift: 7:00 a.m. to noon/1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m./7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.).
> >
> >                         Wages are as low as 19 cents an hour, amounting to
> > just $16.68 for a seven-day, 86-hour work week. However, after factory
> > deductions for food and dorm expenses the workers are left with just
> > $13.99 for the entire week.  The highest hourly wage at Laxo is just 23
> > cents.
> >
> >                         Instead of paying its workers the legally mandated
> > overtime premium, Laxo management paid only a six cents an hour bonus for
> > overtime work.
> >
> >                         It is typical in toy factories across China,
> > especially in the spray paint departments, for workers to be exposed to
> > dangerous levels of toxins.
> >
> >                         No independent union is permitted at Laxo.
> >
> >                       What Should the Walt Disney Company Do?
> >
> >                        Surely the Walt Disney Company cannot tolerate or
> > condone such abusive conditions at your contractors' factories in China,
> > and must immediately intervene to end the violations by implementing
> > concrete steps to bring these factories into full compliance with China's
> > labor laws and Disney's Code of Conduct.
> >
> >                        Disney must take the following steps to restore
> > respect for fundamental human and workers rights in factories producing
> > Disney products:
> >
> >                             Respect the legal 8-hour day, 44-hour work
> > week;
> >                             End forced overtime, the excessive mandatory
> > hours, while guaranteeing that all overtime will be paid at the proper
> > 50-to-100-percent premium;
> >                             Guarantee that the factories pay for and
> > provide all legally mandated benefits, including health care;
> >                             Immediately stop the illegal "entrance fee"
> > deposits taken from the workers, and all fines;
> >                             In the case of the Chi Li An and Fei Fan
> > Footwear factories, immediately reimburse the workers for all unpaid back
> > wages for the 3 ½ month period they were assembling Disney shoes, and;
> >                             Take concrete steps to end the repression and
> > climate of fear by establishing factory conditions that guarantee respect
> > for internationally recognized human and worker rights.  For instance,
> > every worker knows she can be fired if she is even seen discussing factory
> > conditions.  This type of repression must end.
> >
> >                        Two years ago, under popular pressure, the Walt
> > Disney Company amended its corporate Code of Conduct to include the
> > workers right to freedom of association, to form independent unions and
> > negotiate a collective contract free of all reprisals.
> >
> >                        In fact though, workers in China are on a daily
> > basis denied their right to organize independent unions.  No serious
> > person questions the harsh reality of this repression.  Further, even the
> > Walt Disney Code of Conduct is unknown to the workers in China making
> > Disney products.
> >
> >                        Whatever Disney is doing--or not doing--to monitor
> > factory conditions in China, it is a dismal failure.
> >
> >                        Who should monitor Disney's contractors in China?
> >
> >                        The Walt Disney Company knows very well how
> > difficult it is to monitor factory conditions, even in your own
> > backyard--like Los Angeles--let alone in distant China.
> >
> >                        In September 1998, California's Commission of Labor
> > seized 17,000 Disney garments that were sewn at the Trinity Knitworks
> > factory in Los Angeles because 184 workers were owed $213,000 in back
> > wages.  Moreover, Disney inspectors and corporate monitors working under
> > contract with Disney had given Trinity Knitworks a clean bill of health in
> > July 1998, at the very moment that inspectors from the California
> > Department of Labor were citing Trinity for serious minimum wage
> > violations.  The workers' paychecks at Trinity had been bouncing since
> > May.
> >
> >                        According to the Los Angeles Times (December 1,
> > 1998), "...as representatives of Disney and other firms kept close watch
> > over production details, such as placement of inseams, hemlines and
> > zippers, monitors hired by the companies failed to notice Trinity workers
> > were not being paid."  In the face of such obviously inadequate monitoring
> > efforts, California's Labor Commissioner, Mr. Jose Millan, was forced to
> > conclude, "What Disney...and these other large companies are really
> > interested in is the quality of the product--not the quality of the work
> > lives of the workers who are actually producing the product."
> >
> >                        In China, the overwhelming majority of factory
> > workers assembling products for export to U.S. companies like Disney are
> > young women, 16 to 25 years of age.  As migrants from rural areas, many
> > enter the factories with little formal education and are unaware of their
> > legal rights under China's law.
> >                       Locked in factories and in crowded dorms, they are
> > under constant surveillance 24 hours a day.
> >                       Every worker knows she can be fired for even being
> > seen discussing factory conditions.
> >                       Representatives from independent human rights
> > organizations attempting to investigate factory conditions can be detained
> > and arrested.  The workers are in an extremely vulnerable position.
> > Where,  to whom can they turn?  All independent human rights, religious,
> > labor rights and women's organizations are prohibited by China's
> > authorities.  All attempts to organize independent unions are met with
> > repression, firings and imprisonment.  If Mr. Peng Ming, a well-known
> > intellectual in Beijing, can be hauled off last week without trial, and
> > sentenced to one-and-a-half years in a labor camp for merely attempting to
> > establish an independent discussion forum, what possible chance do the
> > young workers locked in factories have to learn, discuss and exercise
> > their rights?
> >
> >                        If the Disney Company is serious about wanting to
> > re-establish respect for human and worker rights at its contractors'
> > plants in China, Disney must use its enormous leverage as one of the
> > world's most recognized and powerful companies to demand change.  If the
> > contractors want to keep Disney's business, they must open their factories
> > to a series of popular education courses, seminars and discussions, so the
> > workers can learn their legal rights under Chinese law, as well as the
> > human rights guarantees contained in the Disney code of Conduct.  This
> > popular education should be carried out by respected independent NGOs like
> > the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee and the Asia Monitor Resource
> > Center, or other respected NGOs they recommend and select.  The workers
> > must be free to attend these seminars and to openly discuss their rights
> > without fear of reprisals.  The Disney Company must guarantee this.  Based
> > on these popular education meetings and knowing their rights, the workers
> > themselves can elect a committee to help monitor conditions in the plant.
> >
> >                        Monitoring factory conditions can mean nothing
> > without the involvement of the workers themselves.
> >                       Any monitoring project which does not have the
> > participation of the factory workers will have no credibility in the
> > United States, or elsewhere.
> >
> >                        This approach is a very modest and reasonable one.
> > It can be done.  All it asks, is that Disney support the right of the
> > workers making Disney products to learn and exercise their legal rights
> > free of reprisals.
> >
> >                        In the larger global context, Disney could be a
> > true industry leader in helping to eliminate sweatshop abuses and child
> > labor by merely publicly disclosing to the American people the names and
> > addresses of the over 15,000 factories that Disney uses around the world
> > to make its products.  This would be a clear way of saying to the American
> > people that Disney stands by its commitment to respect human rights, and
> > does not need to continue to hide production behind locked metal gates, in
> > factories surrounded by high cinder block walls topped with barbed-wire
> > and patrolled by armed guards.
> >                       Disney would be saying to the American people that
> > Disney management is not afraid of transparency in the global economy.
> >
> >                        The National Labor Committee is ready to work with
> > the Disney Company in any way we can to guarantee respect for human and
> > worker rights.
> >
> >                                Sincerely,
> >
> >                                Charles Kernaghan