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Microsoft Mice Made in Chinese Youth Sweatshops?
An anonymous reader writes "The National Labor Committee offers an in-depth look into working conditions in Chinese sweatshops producing hardware (mice, etc.) for Microsoft, complete with pictures. Apparently, so called 'work study students,' 16 and 17 years of age, work 15-hour shifts, six and seven days a week, for around 65 cents per hour. Microsoft said it is taking the claims seriously and has 'commenced an investigation.'"
MS is probably the most catchy one, but the factory produces and packages hardware for a lot more USA companies too:
KYE factory in China, which manufactures computer mice and webcams for Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Samsung, Best Buy, Foxconn, Acer, Logitech, ASUS and other US companies.
Earlier also Apple products were done by child labor at many factories.
These companies should move their factories to US or EU. But it's cheaper there and this is one of the reasons why. As long as it's cheaper, they don't care about ethics.
Nonsense. Purchasing power varies massively across the world. Even in international chains like Starbucks charge a lot more for the same thing in different countries. When you're talking about locally produced food and goods it's a much bigger difference. The cost of food is closely related to the amount the people farming are paid, which is a lot lower in most of Africa or China than it is in the EU or USA, for example. And that's ignoring the fact that the Chinese government intentionally keeps the Yuan devalued against the US Dollar to promote exports, meaning that the purchasing power of the Yuan in China is higher than the exchange rate would lead you to believe.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
In China you can eat a good meal for $0.50
In America you can barely afford a Candy Bar for $0.50
I'm not here to pro-Microsoft, but....
65 cents x 15 hours x 24 days (people work 6 days a week there) = US$234 ~= RMB1,614.00
The wage is much more than the average of the workers there. The starting salary of a factory worker is no more than US$100/mth, an experienced worker (>2 yrs exp) might not be able to ask for more than US$200/mth.
Also, from what I've seen in the article, the working environment is MUCH better than any other factories I've ever seen in China.
Still, I agree that the working hours are too long, but I'm sure the workers there are more than willing to work more than you'd ask for, given high-paid.
Reading the article, the main thrust of it doesn't seem to be the fact that they're using 16-year-olds, though there is a part about 14-15 year-olds as well. The problem is mostly the way the factory is being run.
The workers – mostly women aged 18 to 25 – work from 7:45 a.m. to 10:55 p.m. They eat horrid meals from the factory cafeterias. They have no bathroom breaks during their shifts, and must clean the toilets as discipline, according to the NLC.
They sleep in factory dormitories, 14 workers to a room. They must buy their own mattresses and bedding, or else sleep on 28-inch-wide plywood boards. They "shower" with a sponge and a bucket. And many of the workers, because they're young women, are regularly sexually harassed, the NLC alleges.
Bad examples still.
Milk is not a commonly used foodstuff here, and bread as you're thinking of it is purchased only by foreigners living here.
I can buy all I can eat in a restaurant for six yuan, and can eat for a week for 30.
kartune85 : Incapable of reason, observation or learning. A kind of dim, drab, flightless parrot.