China's sweatshops losing workers
United Press International
22 December 2004
Chinese sweatshops where 70 percent of the world's toys are made are losing workers, the Telegraph reported Wednesday.
Companies that operate on the plain between Shenzhen and Dongguan, in Guangdong province near Hong Kong, typically pay a minimum wage of less than $60 to the workers who make toys, assemble Playstations, stitch shoes and produces a host of Christmas gifts.
Also, workers are asked routinely to falsify timesheets, forced to work overtime and given only five days off each year, the newspaper said. Asking for a raise or time off is typically grounds for dismissal.
But in recent months there have been strikes and other job actions, leaving the delta short on laborers. Last year, an estimated 3 million laborers participated in strikes and related job actions.
Hou Zhenggang, the labor exchange manager in Dongkeng, near Dongguan, estimates his town is 10 percent short.
"They are voting with their feet," said Robin Munro, a research director for the monitoring group China Labor Bulletin.