Thousands of Chinese teens and young adults work 15 hours a day at 65 cents per hour, prohibited from talking or listening to music, in abysmal conditions at the KYE Systems factory where they assemble Microsoft hardware that is exported to the United States, Europe and Japan.
So reports the National Labor Committee, which on Tuesday released the culmination of three years of incognito interviews and photography inside the infamous Dongguan, China, gadget factories. Though Microsoft is not the only company to outsource manufacturing to KYE, it accounts for about 30 percent of the factory’s work, the NLC said.
The workers – mostly women aged 18 to 25 – work from 7:45 a.m. to 10:55 p.m. They eat horrid meals from the factory cafeterias. They have no bathroom breaks during their shifts, and must clean the toilets as discipline, according to the NLC.
They sleep in factory dormitories, 14 workers to a room. They must buy their own mattresses and bedding, or else sleep on 28-inch-wide plywood boards. They “shower” with a sponge and a bucket. And many of the workers, because they’re young women, are regularly sexually harassed, the NLC alleges.
Young workers rest during a rare 10-minute break while manufacturing Microsoft mice at a KYE Systems factory in Dongguan, China.
During work hours, 1,000 workers could be crammed into one 105-foot by 105-foot room. Inside the factory, to which Microsoft has outsourced since at least 2003, workers assembled such Microsoft products as the LifeCam VX-7000, Basic Optical Mouse and Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 6000, according to the NLC.
Companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Foxconn, Acer, Logitech and Asus also outsource production to KYE Systems.
“And in what must be the best of both worlds for U.S. companies like Microsoft, the workers give the U.S. companies a pass,” the NLC’s report states. “The young workers never think or talk about the foreign companies and put all the blame on the factory. No one has told them how wealthy and powerful Microsoft and the other companies really are.
The National Labor Committee’s report includes a narrative from one KYE factory worker whose jobs consisted entirely of sticking self-adhesive rubber feet to the bottom of Microsoft computer mice. Peel, place, repeat.
But the monotony of sitting (or standing) for 12 hours, applying foot after foot to mouse after mouse, was not the worst of the worker’s testimony. It was the militaristic management and sleep deprivation that affected the worker most, according to the NLC’s report.
“I know that I can choose not to work overtime, but if I don’t work overtime, then I am stuck with only 770 (Chinese yuan, or $112.67, per month) in base wages,” the worker said, as reported by the NLC. “This is not nearly enough to support a family. My parents are farmers without jobs. They also do not have pensions. I also need to worry about getting married, which requires a lot of money.
Microsoft is committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors. Microsoft has invested heavily in a vendor accountability program and robust independent third-party auditing program to ensure conformance to the Microsoft Vendor Code of Conduct.
We are aware of the NLC report and we have commenced an investigation. We take these claims seriously, and we will take appropriate remedial measures in regard to any findings of vendor misconduct.
Actions for non-compliance with our requirements may include corrective action plans, remedial training, certification requirements, cessation of further business awards until corrective actions are instituted, and termination of the business relationship. We unequivocally support taking immediate actions to address non compliant activities.
Microsoft did not answer specific questions about operations at the KYE factory, such as whether it has quality-control monitors there or whether it regularly sends representatives there to check conditions.
The NLC said the KYE factory offers a work-study program, recruiting workers from high schools across southern China. According to the NLC, many of these young workers were on the clock 15 hours a day, seven days a week – even though Chinese law limits workers under 18 to eight hours a day.
Though many factories are known for sweatshop-like conditions, Microsoft may not be entirely knowledgeable about the alleged environment at KYE Systems.
“Corporate audits of the KYE factory by Microsoft and other high-tech companies have also failed miserably over the last several years,” the NLC’s report states. “At the KYE factory the process of preparing for monitoring visits is somewhat subtle. Management instructs the workers to ‘answer the clients’ questions very carefully.’ They should say they never work more than 12 hours a day and overtime is less than 36 hours a month.
Luckily, most workers can put up with the job for only about six months – then they go find another job. As such, there’s a high turnover rate at KYE, and the factory is always hiring, the NLC said.
KYE Systems did not respond to a seattlepi.com request for comment. Read the National Labor Committee’s full report here.
Update 4 p.m., April 15: Microsoft said it will send labor inspectors to KYE to perform an audit. Read seattlepi.com’s report here.