Workers forced to work 15 to 19.5 hours a day, seven days/week making plastic toys for 43 cents an hour. Repetitive work – one operation every three seconds – leaves them with blistered and bleeding hands and fingers.
Incident Tag: Excessive Work Hours
Work hours exceeding the limit of 48 hours/week.
The ILO Hours of Work (Industry) Convention (No. 1) of 1919 introduced a maximum standard working time of 48 hours per week and eight hours per day as an international norm. In several exceptional cases, working time is allowed to exceed these limits, as long
as daily working time remains not higher than ten hours, and weekly working time not higher than 56 hours.
“The ILO conventions that address working hours have established a maximum of 48 hours per week plus 12 hours of overtime and this can only be applied on a sometime basis.”
Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1)
Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30)
These two Conventions set the general standard at 48 regular hours of
work per week, with a maximum of 8 hours per day.
Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14)
Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106)
Set the general standard that workers shall enjoy a rest period of at least
24 consecutive hours every 7 days.
Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (No. 132)
Every person to whom the Convention applies shall enjoy at least three
working weeks of annual paid holiday for one year of service.
Part-Time Work Convention, 1994 (No. 175)
Requires ratifying states to ensure that part-time workers receive the same
protection, basic wage and social security, as well as employment conditions
equivalent to those accorded to comparable full-time workers.
Recent Testimony from Workers at Zhengzhou Foxconn
Worker testimony reveals persistent abuses in Foxconn factory, including child labor, abrasive management, and pressure to finish work load of what was before 11-14 hours, in 10 hours.
An Investigation of Eight Samsung Factories in China (Samsung 6)
Report uncovers legal violations and labor abuses in 6 Samsung factories producing electronics: exhaustive working conditions; factory reaching 186 hours/month during peak season; work well over 100 hours of overtime/month in 5 factories; in all factories overtime surpasses the legal limit (36 hours/month); hiring of child workers in 3 factories; 11-12 hour shifts.
Follow-up Investigations of Five Samsung Factories (4 Samsung Factories)
Follow-up investigations at 4 Samsung factories revealed no improvements since report published 2 months ago. ‘Worker violations, such as illegally long overtime hours, abuse of dispatch, underage, and student workers, employment discrimination, unfair treatment, low wages, and more still exist at Samsung factories.’
Investigations Find That Samsung Is Far From Goal of Model Labor Treatment (chitwing)
Egregious violations at factory (5.000 workers) manufacturing cell phone covers: workers consistently working over 220 hours of overtime for the past few months (six times the 36 hour overtime legal limit); minimum daily factory stay is 12 hours; 14-15 hour work days; some work for 16 hours/day; base salary (1100 RMB -$176); workers dependent on overtime to make a living-wage; 200 student workers in the summer.
The Toy Industry in China: Undermining Workers’ Rights and Rule of Law
Abusive conditions in toy factory: pay rates as low as only 59 percent of local minimum wage, worker dorm rooms housing 22 people each, work schedules that surpass the legal limit by at least 36.5 hours per week.
Kingmaker Footwear (Timberland made in China)
Harsh working conditions at factory producing clothes and footwear: verbal harassment, physical abuse, 13.5 hours in the factory (11 work hours), child laborers of 14 to 16 years old, 16 workers sleep in one room.
Samsung’s Supplier Factory Exploiting Child Labor
Violations at factory (2.000 employees) producing mobile phones, mp3s, DVDs, etc:Research indicates student workers amount to 80% of the factory workforce; approximately 50-100 children working; youngest worker spotted was 14 years old; low wages for children, 70% less than formal employees; discrimination based on sex and age; 11 hours daily work shifts (including 3-5 hours of forced overtime).
Beyond Foxconn:Deplorable Working Conditions Characterize Apple’s Entire Supply Chain (Pegatron)
Labor violations at factory (~5,000 workers) producing parts for consumer electronics: age discrimination upon hiring (16 – 35 years old); use of chlid labor (as low as 16); 12 hour daily shifts; workers have one day off/month during off season; during peak season they have 1 day off every two months (143 – 154 hours monthly overtime); 24 hour shift when workers switch from morning to evening shift; local minimum wage pay; overtime required to cover living costs; overall average wage 3,000 RMB (≈$476); verbally abusive managers; poor air quality and toxic chemical exposure; reported injury burns.
8000 Workers Protest Cancellation of Annual Bonuses as Strikes Continue Across China
8,000 workers walk off their factory job to protest managers retaining their year-end bonuses while cancelling the workers’ bonuses, as well as other grievances.