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HONG KONG - A US-based workers' rights group said it found "brutal conditions" and labour violations at eight Chinese plants that make toys for big multinationals, and called on the companies to take steps towards better standards.
China Labour Watch said in a report issued yesterday after several months of investigation 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".
"Wages are low, benefits are non-existent, work environments are dangerous and living conditions are humiliating," it said.
The report comes as Chinese exports are under growing scrutiny abroad over safety concerns a week after Mattel Inc 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".
"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," it said.
Walt Disney International said that it and its affiliates take claims of unfair labour practices very seriously, investigate any such allegations thoroughly and take remedial action.
"We have a firm commitment to the safety and well-being of workers, and fair and just labour standards," said spokeswoman Alannah Goss in an emailed statement.
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 correct violations and take responsibility for suppliers' legal infractions.
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 a supplier is living up to commitments to meet labour and environmental standards 100 per cent of the time.
Industry experts also say that some manufacturers show off clean, inspection-passing facilities to international clients when they visit, but secretly subcontract some of the 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, labour conditions have "improved somewhat" in recent years but remain poor, China Labour Watch said.
- Reuters
