New report on two Chinese toy factories:

The recent report called "Exploitations of Toy Factory Workers at the Bottom of the Global Supply Chain" reveals that violations of human and workers rights remain even in certified toy factories in China.

The two factories are suppliers of Disney and have received certificates of the International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) to state that they uphold certain standards regarding human and workers rights.

Nevertheless, in one of the factories, workers neither receive a contract nor wage stubs to verify their overtime and salary. If workers refuse to work overtime, they will be fined 50 RMB (around 50 EURO). In the other factory, the situation is not better. At Wai Shing, another Disney and Mattel supplier, workers have to work up to 120 hours of overtime per month in order to respect very short lead times.  Working conditions are problematic. Toilet breaks are restricted to two a day for a maximum of 5 minutes - and only with a special permit.

In both factories, temperatures are unbearably hot. At Tianyu Toys, air condition exists, but workers would have to pay for the use of it by inserting coins.... Workers have to handle toxic substances, but are not told what exactly they use, not given any safety equipment and not informed how to handle the chemicals in order not to hurt themselves.

In factory dormitories 7 to 12 people share a 25m2 room. The bunk bed is often the only private area workers have. Meals are provided by the factory canteen, but the quality of the food is revolting. Workers at Wai Shing report that often sand and iron scrap is found in the food. Still, up to a quarter of their monthly salary is deducted for food and accomodation.


You can read the whole report here.