Olympic Slaves
Workers at the Rainbow Arts and Crafts Factory in Yancheng City, China are reportedly sewing these cute 2012 London Olympics stuffed toys in deplorable conditions and compensated for the difficult crafting with piece work pay of 30-60 cents a piece. The toys retail for around $30.
In summer and autumn 2011, Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) investigated the Yancheng Rainbow Arts and Crafts Company, a manufacturer of Wenlock, Mandeville and Pride-the-Lion goods in Dafeng City, China.
The factory is also a supplier to Disney. This investigation revealed numerous violations of workers’ rights violations in the Rainbow Factory, which puts it far outside the promises of the code. The following are the major labour rights violations found in the factory:
- Workers are told to tell lies to the auditors during factory inspections.
- No labour contract is given to workers.- The factory does not pay a basic salary to workers.
- Workers do not know about the piece rate before production.
- Overtime premium is not paid in accordance with legal standards.- Sewing workers have muscle fatigue, due to the repetitive work, and cloth-cutting workers have to stand during the whole day.
- No paid maternity leave for workers
“The quality control of Olympic products is demanding. It is very difficult to produce the mascots. There cannot be any flaws. Although they are Olympic products, the unit price is lower than for other products. I am not proud of making the mascots at all,” explained one sewing worker.
According to the workers, the Olympic products were to be sent to the British companies, Golden Bear and John Lewis. It is disappointing that the client puts so much effort into quality control of the products but turns a blind eye to the labour rights violations. The Rainbow Factory is a primary labour rights violator and Golden Bear and John Lewis failed to examine the working conditions at their supplier.
Nevertheless, LOCOG cannot evade its responsibility for enforcing its own sustainable and ethical sourcing codes. http://sacom.hk/
Gu Feng, chairman of the board of Rainbow Arts and Crafts, said his company had drafted an indictment in preparations to take the two organizations to courts and would claim compensations for the damages it had suffered.
Refuting the coverage which said that workers were paid "just 18 p per item", Gu said for per item of Wenlock and Mandeville, workers could earn 5.16 yuan (51.6 p) and 5.94 yuan ( 59.4 p) respectively.
"If employees are no absent from work, their monthly salary will exceed 2,000 yuan, about 200 pounds for sure. We can substantiate our statements either in term of working hours or pays," he said.
According to the report of The Sun, however, workers in Rainbow Arts and Crafts get only 93 pounds, roughly 930 yuan a month, and has to work 358 hours a month.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-01/23/c_131374482.htm
