BP Editors
In 2010, the National Labor Committee ousted a Chinese supplier called KYE for its use of child labor. Some highlights of the report include:
– KYE recruited up to 1,000 “work-study” students (supposed to be 16-17 but many seeming to be 15 and under) to work 15-hour shifts, seven days a week.
– KYE’s second choice are women age 18-25 — considered easier to discipline and control.
– KYE pays workers 65 cents an hour.
– KYE employees are often required to report early to participate in bizarre, military-esque drills.
– Temperatures inside the factory often reach nearly 90 degrees. No air conditioning.
– Frequent claims of sexual harassment from security guards.
– Talking and music are prohibited.
– 14 employees per ‘dorm’ room.
– Showers consist of a sponge and a plastic bucket filled with water.
KYE claims that conditions at their factories are “excellent.”
Microsoft was the company most scrutinized for their utilization of KYE’s slave and child labor, but KYE employees were also manufacturing products for XBox, HP, and other electronics companies. However, other large corporations like Apple have also (only recently) admitted to using Chinese factories who forced child slaves to work long hours under harrowing conditions. Another guilty party is Nokia.
You might be wondering why these companies bother to have a code of conduct at all, seeing how blatantly it’s ignored. It’s to give customers the illusion that they want — everyone wants an iPhone or a fancy computer, but no one wants to admit that they would probably buy it even if they did know it was made by sick little child slaves who are dying just so they can buy the product at a billion percent markup.
