Disney’s £35 Ariel doll earns a Chinese worker 1p

[GeoTommy]

https://www.theguardian.com/global-d...nese-worker-1p

Staff at the Wah Tung factory in the city of Heyuan said that they worked 175 hours of overtime in a month, with only one day off over that period – both breaches of Chinese labour law and toy industry codes of conduct.

“Children love Disney’s toys but we want their parents to understand that there’s no Christmas magic going on here: those toys were made with cheap labour by women working illegally long hours for pennies.

She said Disney could afford to pay higher prices to ensure wage increases.

Full report:

https://www.solidar.ch/en/a-nightmare-for-workers

[TheBrit]

It's pretty depressing to see big Western corporates hide behind layers like the "Ethical Toy Program" instead of taking control of their supply chain themselves.

https://www.ethicaltoyprogram.org/en/

Clearly most of the blame lies with the factories exploiting their workforce but ultimately companies the size of Disney should be able to hold their supplies to real standards rather than taking the easy route through "ETP".

[Elegiaque]

No surprise.

It's very easy to pick out one item like that and say "Look at the human cost of that toy you bought!" but where do you draw the line? I think nearly every thing we have around us comes from factories with most likely poor conditions and poor environmental standards.

Look at how fabric is made and dyed... look at how electronics are scrapped... We are surrounded by "cheap" disposable things, how else could all this stuff be created except with sacrifices to people and the environment.

[hullexile]

The conditions sound very bad but I amalways wary of these reports. When Wimbledon was on there was a report about how the tennis balls are made in the Philippines for sweatshop pay. Calls for a boycott. The pay was not bad by Philippine standards so the boycott would just have put people out of work and into hunger.

[MandM!]

It's not like anyone cares. Plenty of families in those shops at amusement parks supporting this type of culture. And why would a business increase their costs when the standard is already what you see above.

[ycchai]

OMG sweat shop?!?! they are having a nap after lunch, something that I don't even have the luxury of doing. If you think thats long hours, talk to bankers who work 7 days a week. all nighter are daily affairs.

These days finding workers in shenzhen is a painful affair for factory owners. I meet a lot of factory owners and they all say the same. These kind of reporting is really bull.