Human rights: going for the price of a cheap keyboard

• Published on 21/08/2009
• Business Network

“I think it’s fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tools we’ve ever created. They’re tools of communication, they’re tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.” Bill Gates, Microsoft

To most it is inconceivable that a computer – a means to greater freedom - could be at the centre of oppression and subjugation in some parts of the world. One such place is the Meitai Plastics & Electronics factory in Guangdong, China.

As recently as February 2009, the US-based National Labour Committee reported that companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft and IBM used third parties that produce computer equipment under appalling working conditions that infringe basic worker rights.

Working conditions are simply abysmal – a prison would be considered a better place. Under Chinese law, a regular work week is 40 hours (8hrs x 5days), with all overtime voluntary and capped at 36 hours a month. The average work week at this factory is 78 hours, with a mandatory overtime of 38 hours surpassing the month’s quota in a week. A worker who dares take a Sunday off will lose 2 ½ days pay. Workers’ movement is severely restricted – they are not permitted to leave the factory compound Monday to Friday.

There is complete disregard for occupational health and safety practices. Workers are denied breaks despite their hands becoming sore and bruised from the fast assembly line. Workers are denied air-conditioning despite the extreme temperatures generated by the multitude of machinery in a confined space. No protective clothing is provided to safeguard against contact with potentially toxic liquids when spray painting equipment.

Discrimination is commonplace. Beginning with the application process, workers are required to undergo a blood test for Hepatitis B, despite prohibition by Chinese law against discrimination of those with Hepatitis B. Lack of empowerment is the norm; discussing factory incidents leads to dismissal.

These practices are not only a violation of human rights but contravene basic Chinese labour law. Similar conditions are reported elsewhere in China’s electronics sector such as in production of MP3 players and game consoles.

The Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act s367, not yet made law but to be reintroduced to US Congress, would ban the importation or sale of products made in factories under ‘sweatshop conditions’ such as these. Corporations would be required to respect labour rights laws in the countries in which they produce. This would not enforce US or equivalent standards. Nor would it enforce producer responsibility for environmentally sound disposal of e-waste at the end of a product’s life. Greenpeace has reported that although these practices are formally forbidden by China, as a signatory to the Basel Convention, open-air smelting at e-waste facilities is producing highly dangerous fumes and is leaking toxic waste into local water supplies.

A simple solution may be to increase the price of a keyboard from $29.95 to $30.60/$31.60/$32.60. The difference in price would be negligible to consumers but it could fund legal wages, improved working conditions, OH&S, and e-waste abatement. Even doubling a Chinese worker’s wage from the current $0.64 per hour - which does not cover subsistence living – would still be 90 per cent cheaper than an equivalent American worker’s hourly rate.

As the Chinese proverb says, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Without this single step, the goal of empowerment of workers to achieve basic human rights will never be achieved.

Fiona Bachmann & Satya Tammareddy
Amnesty Business Group NSW

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