Legal Niches

Chinese MSFT Supplier Under Fire for Worker Conditions

By pete_gallagher

A Chinese factory that provides computer parts and Xbox 360 controllers to Microsoft, and other U.S. companies, has seen the conditions of its workers scrutinized in a scathing report issued by The National Labor Committee (NLC).

The NLC report focused on the KYE Factory in Dongguan City, Guangdong and offered a laundry list of complaints. Among them, workers earn an average of 65 cents an hour (52 cents per hour after deducting for food), workers average 68 hours of work per week, and that workers are prohibited from 'talking, listening to music or using the bathroom' during working hours.

Additionally, the factory was said to have a preference for hiring 18 to 25 year old women, as 'they are easier to discipline and control,' and also hires 'work-study students,' or 16 and 17 year olds who work mandatory 15-hour shifts six or seven days per week.  Workers also share lodging in 'primitive' dorm rooms that house up to 14 people.

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Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on April 19, 2010 (boomark / email).