Posted on 08/16/2005 11:01:49 AM PDT by OXENinFLA
News Advisory:
Unique and explosive video footage of sweatshop workers producing children's books in China for Disney plus a full written report on Disney's supplier's treatment of its workers will be the centerpiece of a press conference on Thursday, Aug. 18 called by Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the National Labor Committee.
Kernaghan is the leading labor rights watchdog who discovered Kathie Lee Gifford's, P. Diddy's and Wal-Mart's use of sweatshops in Central America and China. He will present a thoroughly documented report done in collaboration with research partners in China on Disney's Chinese supplier factory.
WHO: Charles Kernaghan, National Labor Committee
WHAT: Press Conference
WHERE: In front of Disney retail store, 5th Ave. at 55th St. (711 5th Avenue), Manhattan
WHEN: Noon, Thursday, Aug. 18
NOTE: Video footage and full report available on request.
Bad news for the Mouse.
It's a small sweatshop after all..........
It's a small world after all...
Disney Sweatshops:
It's a small world after allThe Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee (CIC) has released a pre-Christmas report exposing sweatshop abuses in 12 Chinese factories producing Disney products for the holiday season.
According to CIC, young Chinese women migrant workers making Disney-label toys, clothes and accessories for the Christmas market work up to seven days a week, 16 hours a day, for as little as Can$90 a month. In at least two factories, workers were pressured to work overnight during the peak production season.
Workers in some factories were fined for talking at work, for not wearing the factory ID properly, and for forgetting to switch off lights in their dorm rooms.
Workers complained of unhealthy working conditions, such as exposure to harmful chemicals, and said they only receive gloves and masks when there are visitors at the factory.
Others reported delays in receiving pay, falsification of timecards, being forced to work extra hours to finish quotas, not receiving overtime premiums, and receiving pay slips that are unclear as to how pay is calculated.
Many of the workers interviewed complained of bad food and crowded dormitories. In one factory, workers slept on triple-deck beds, 21-24 workers to a dorm room.
Most of the Disney products made in the 12 factories were destined for the North American and European markets. At least one toy factory was exporting directly to the Canadian market.
Monitoring the Monitors
According to CIC researcher Alice Kwan, workers interviewed knew very little about the Disney code of conduct or how it is being implemented.
Workers in six factories knew nothing about the code of conduct. In three other factories some workers knew of the code, but nothing about its content. In the remaining three factories, the code was either posted or workers had been introduced to it when they started work.
Workers reported that their factories were sometimes visited by outsiders who could have been Disney representatives or external monitors. In some cases, factories were cleaned up before the monitors arrived.
There were also reports of managers forcing workers to sign falsified payrolls, of using double bookkeeping to fool monitors, instructing workers on what to say in interviews, and prohibiting young workers from being in the factory during monitors’ visits. In some cases, the Disney monitors didn’t talk to workers at all.
Kwan says Disney’s Chinese suppliers are not only violating the company’s code, but also Chinese labour law, which in most cases is much stricter than the Disney code.
Don’t Cut and Run
According to Kwan, the CIC is not releasing the names of the factories at this time in order to avoid the possibility of Disney cutting and running. "We don’t want our report to result in workers losing their jobs," she says.
The CIC report is available at: www.maquilasolidarity.org/campaigns/disney/
No, not possible, not shipped here. Disney in the US (or Walmart or whatever) would never commission such slave labor work sold at a mark up here. I'm sure Disney in China is their only destination (as I tip over my Disney mug to see 'made in China' on the bottom). /sarcasm And to think, Disney charges a small fortune for these items, all made by virtual slave labor somewhere in China. Free market, yes, but at what cost?
You owe me a keyboard! :)
Bad news, but no one should be surprised. It seems just about everything there is made in China and sold at exorbitant prices. The idea that slave labor or sweatshops is behind it should not be a surprise to anyone.
I would add, I'm surprised it took them this long to figure that out. That this 'discovery' or revelation comes on the heels of Eisner's ousting is no real surprise, although possibly tinfoil hat area.
True. But this made be the first time they have video to show.
Good point. I'm hoping they have (finally) have video. Disney could still charge the same prices for all their items without using slave labor and probably still make a profit.
We need to stop allowing issues like this to be gimmes to organized labor / the Left. This is low hanging fruit. Same deal with the border.
You don't even wanna know where they get the plush to make all those cute fuzzy toys!
China = Sweatshop
or
China = Donations to Chi-com Military
What am I missing?
Not a thing. I wonder if the video proof will sway anybody on the left? And it's not just disney, but so many others here, we're saturated with goods made in China by grossly underpaid workers with the companies making money off their slave labor.
Remember the Democrats of the old south? They wanted slavery because they profited by it. Now we have sweat shops.
Abe Lincoln was the first Republican president. I don't think he would agree with all these trade deals our gov-ment has worked out.
And the 'new' slavery of the Dems of the North (and South) - the unions and the welfare ghettos. My grandfather was sponsored by a union when he came to this country. He might as well have been a slave. They got rich while the men who toiled for them never really moved up, huge dues, company stores, 'advice' on how to vote. No wonder my mom became a Republican!
I think Abe must be spinning in his grave. And a few others. Some of the trade deals just don't seem to be helping us.
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