Disney & McDonalds linked to $0.06 per hour sweatshop
in Vietnam
Seventeen year old women are forced to work 9 to 10 hours a day,
seven days a week, earning as little as six cents an hour in the
Keyhinge factory in Vietnam making the popular giveaway promotional
toys, many of which are Disney characters, for McDonald's Happy
Meals.
After working a 70 hour week, some of the teenage women take home
a salary of only $4.20! In February, 200 workers fell ill, 25
collapsed and three were hospitalized as a result of chemical
exposure.
Included in the Happy Meals sold at McDonalds are small toys based
on characters from Disney films. According to McDonald's senior
vice-president Brad Ball, the Happy Meals characters from the "101
Dalmations" movie were the most successful in McDonald's history.
Ball adds, "As we embark on our new global alliance, we anticipate
ten great years of unbeatable family fun as customers enjoy 'the
magic of Disney' only at McDonald's" (PR Newswire Associates, March
19, 1997).
Located in Da Nang City, Vietnam, the Keyhinge Toys Co. Factory
employs approximately 1,000 people. 90% of them are young women 17 to
20 years old. Overtime is mandatory: shifts of 9 to 10 hours a day,
seven days a week. Wage rates average between six cents and eight
cents an hour - well below subsistence levels.
Overcome by fatigue and poor ventilation in late February, 200
women fell ill, 25 collapsed and three were hospitalized as a result
of exposure to acetone. Acute or prolonged exposure to acetone, a
chemical solvent, can cause dizziness, unconsciousness, damage to the
liver and kidneys and chronic eye, nose, throat and skin irritation.
All appeals from local human and labour rights groups continue to
be rejected by Keyhinge management which refuses to improve the
ventilation system in the factory or remedy other unsafe working
conditions.
Along with demanding forced overtime, Keyhinge management has not
made legally required payments for health insurance coverage for its
employees, who now receive no compensation for injury or sickness.
Many of the young women at the Keyhinge factory making
McDonald's/Disney toys earn just 60 cents after a 10 hour shift. The
most basic meal in Vietnam - rice, vegetables, and tofu - costs 70
cents. Three meals would cost $2.10. Wages do not even cover 20 per
cent of the daily food and travel costs for a single worker, let
alone her family.
