Publication-Date: 03.09.2000 Publication: SMCP
Author: Martin Wong
Headline: Factories sack underage workers
Byline: Martin Wong
UNDERAGE workers at City Toys and four affiliate factories were sacked in the
wake of the Sunday Morning Post report last week and their colleagues were
warned to stay silent about them, a labour-monitoring group said yesterday.
The Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee said a series of mass lay-offs was
under way at the factory that makes toys for McDonald's and four nearby
factories that are subsidiaries of the same parent company, Hong Kong-based
Pleasure Tech Holdings.
A dismissed worker from one factory said she even witnessed underage workers
being locked up by management to escape inspectors from McDonald's and the
mainland's Labour Bureau who arrived on Monday.
Six sacked workers, who came from Quizhou province, said that before their
dismissals they had been drilled on how to answer questions from the McDonald's
team and the bureau.
One of them said: "Over the past few days, the management asked us to tell
whoever come for inspection that we do not have to do overtime work in the
factory and that we work eight hours for 24 yuan a day.
"If they ask us whether we have to pay medical fees, we should answer
no," one of the six workers said.
"If they ask what facilities and entertainment we have, we should tell them
that we have a library and there are video shows from time to time. But of
course the truth is there are none."
Workers added that the management threatened them to be careful of what they
said.
"We were told if we said anything damaging to the factory, we would be
fired," one employee said.
The committee said that workers who looked too young were also fired.
"A 19-year-old woman complained to us that she was sacked because she was
too small in size and she could not convince the factory of her real age.
Workers whose genuine ID pictures do not look like the real person were also
fired," the committee said.
Committee researcher Monina Wong, who visited the industrial area, said she had
heard from workers of instances of unexplained and arbitrary lay-offs.
"This is in breach of the labour law," she said.
The group last week expressed concern that workers might be penalised in the
wake of the Post report.
"We are sad to find that in our latest visit to the plants that our
concerns are valid and that workers suffer because of mistakes committed by the
manufacturers and McDonald's Corporation," Ms Wong said.
The group strongly urged McDonald's and City Toys to pay due compensation,
including travel allowances and overtime payments, to all the dismissed workers.
They also should commit themselves to abiding by mainland labour laws and
establish an independent monitoring system that involved workers and
labour-monitoring organisations.
The group added that McDonald's and City Toys should apologise to mistreated
workers for violating labour rights and insulting their dignity.
Caption: Mouths to feed-Genzi resident Lai Mei sent her two daughters, aged 14
and 16, to work in a Shenzhen textile factory two years ago. The mother of four
says her family was too poor to have allowed them to stay at school, where fees
are 400 yuan a month.Photographers name: DUSTIN SHUM
Created with Digital Collections DC4Publication-Date: 27.08.2000
Publication: SMP
Page: 03 Keyword: McDonald's, child
labour, sweatshop
Edition: 2 Author: Martin Wong
Section: NWS Slug Name: CLABOUR
Word-Count: 838
Headline: Childhood lost to hard labour
Headline: Lax age checks open door to underage workers at Shenzhen factory
producing toys for fast food chain
Byline: Martin Wong
CHILDREN working in a Shenzhen sweatshop that makes toys for McDonald's have
told the Sunday Morning Post how they work from 7am to 11pm and earn barely
enough in a day to buy a Big Mac Meal in Hong Kong.
They are paid 24 yuan (about HK$23) a day for working shifts up to 16 hours,
seven days a week, packaging the toys. The children's daily wage would be just
enough to get them a Hamburger Happy Meal ($15) and McFlurry ice-cream ($8) or a
Filet O-fish Meal ($18) and a drink at McDonald's here.
The youngsters admit they lie about their ages to get jobs in the factory, where
workers estimate up to 20 per cent of employees are under the mainland legal age
for workers of 16. But they say only rudimentary checks are done on their ID
cards by the factory to make sure they are old enough to work.
Last week, a Post reporter mingled with workers in the guarded factory complex
and interviewed youngsters who worked there.
Each youngster sleeps in a 200 to 300-square-foot room with 15 other workers.
They are charged 60 yuan a month for accommodation. There are eight double-deck
wooden beds, all without mattresses. They are charged a further two yuan for
each meal.
Workers are given one or two days off a month but do not leave the industrial
district in which the factory is based because they cannot afford to apply for
the $350 temporary-stay permits that allow them to leave Shenzhen.
Most of the underage workers come from Gaozhou, Guangdong province, about 40km
west of Shenzhen, where the factory's management has a close link with local
schools. One of them, An Luping, 14, said she had been working at the factory
since early July and had used a forged identity card to get her job.
"I am not old enough to work," she admitted. "How did I get here?
I used a forged identity card. Many people do this. I used a fake name - Yang
Li. She is my friend living in my village who is 17 years old."
Like many of the mainland child workers, Luping is forced to shoulder the family
burden at a young age. "My family is poor. It can't afford to keep four
children."
Another girl, Ma Bei, 16, came from Guizhou province at the beginning of last
year when she was 15. "I used my sister's ID when I joined," she said.
"When my sister was younger, she also used our relative's ID when joining
another firm."
Bei has been packaging Hello Kitty dolls for the past few months for McDonald's
restaurants but did not realise the doll was a famous Japanese cartoon cat until
a picture was shown to her.
When she saw it she exclaimed: "Oh! That's the cute panda I'm working
on."
Despite the long working hours, Bei considered herself lucky as she was now
working in a factory with air-conditioning. "There is another building just
30 metres away from here which is also owned by our factory. I used to work
there until March this year. It was like hell. It was hot and noisy."
Underage workers graduate to jobs like those of Li Hungyan, who is over 18, who
sprays fur on to the Hello Kitty dolls.
"The machines are very noisy, the air is thick too. But we are not given
any face masks or ear plugs. I don't know what's in the air and I get
allergies."
Pointing to her arms she said: "Look - there is a red rash all over my
arms."
She said she found it hard working overtime until 2am. "It is very harsh.
And I get only 300 to 400 yuan a month."
The Christian Industrial Committee said it visited the firm on July 7 and found
there were more than 160 children aged 12 to 15 with summer jobs. All the
children came from two schools in Gaozhou.
Wang Hanhong, 12, told committee investigators: "My parents did not want me
to come. I cried and begged them to let me because I wanted to see the outside
world. My family has three other children, but they are all studying. I want to
earn some money to help my parents survive."
Although it was already 7pm when the group interviewed the 12-year-old boy, he
said he and his classmates still had to get back to work and did not expect to
finish until at least 9pm.
When asked about the allegations last night, McDonald's said it viewed
violations of their employment code with concern.
Their supplier - Simon Marketing (Hong Kong), which contracts out production to
City Toys Ltd - said regular checks were made on the staff to ensure the code
was adhered to. "Based on our recent unannounced audit, City Toys was found
in full compliance with the McDonald's code of conduct," said spokeswoman
Vivian Foo.
All the names in this report have been changed to protect the identities of the
children.
Caption: On the treadmill -Clockwise from above: Children take a break from
work; line up to make a phone call; the spartan room 16 of them share; a
McDonald's Snoopy toy in Hong Kong.Photographers name: SMP PICTURES and DAVID
WONG
Created with Digital Collections DC4Publication-Date: 03.09.2000
Publication: SMP
Page: 02 Keyword: China factory, child
labour
Edition: 2 Author: Martin Wong
Section: NWS Slug Name: TOYS03
Word-Count: 480
Headline: Factories sack underage workers
Byline: Martin Wong
UNDERAGE workers at City Toys and four affiliate factories were sacked in the
wake of the Sunday Morning Post report last week and their colleagues were
warned to stay silent about them, a labour-monitoring group said yesterday.
The Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee said a series of mass lay-offs was
under way at the factory that makes toys for McDonald's and four nearby
factories that are subsidiaries of the same parent company, Hong Kong-based
Pleasure Tech Holdings.
A dismissed worker from one factory said she even witnessed underage workers
being locked up by management to escape inspectors from McDonald's and the
mainland's Labour Bureau who arrived on Monday.
Six sacked workers, who came from Quizhou province, said that before their
dismissals they had been drilled on how to answer questions from the McDonald's
team and the bureau.
One of them said: "Over the past few days, the management asked us to tell
whoever come for inspection that we do not have to do overtime work in the
factory and that we work eight hours for 24 yuan a day.
"If they ask us whether we have to pay medical fees, we should answer
no," one of the six workers said.
"If they ask what facilities and entertainment we have, we should tell them
that we have a library and there are video shows from time to time. But of
course the truth is there are none."
Workers added that the management threatened them to be careful of what they
said.
"We were told if we said anything damaging to the factory, we would be
fired," one employee said.
The committee said that workers who looked too young were also fired.
"A 19-year-old woman complained to us that she was sacked because she was
too small in size and she could not convince the factory of her real age.
Workers whose genuine ID pictures do not look like the real person were also
fired," the committee said.
Committee researcher Monina Wong, who visited the industrial area, said she had
heard from workers of instances of unexplained and arbitrary lay-offs.
"This is in breach of the labour law," she said.
The group last week expressed concern that workers might be penalised in the
wake of the Post report.
"We are sad to find that in our latest visit to the plants that our
concerns are valid and that workers suffer because of mistakes committed by the
manufacturers and McDonald's Corporation," Ms Wong said.
The group strongly urged McDonald's and City Toys to pay due compensation,
including travel allowances and overtime payments, to all the dismissed workers.
They also should commit themselves to abiding by mainland labour laws and
establish an independent monitoring system that involved workers and
labour-monitoring organisations.
The group added that McDonald's and City Toys should apologise to mistreated
workers for violating labour rights and insulting their dignity.
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