"We are like prisoners."

[Derek Thunder]

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.

"We are like prisoners," one worker told the NLC. "It seems like we live only to work. We do not work to live. We do not live a life, only work."

Microsoft said it is taking the claims seriously and has "commenced an investigation."

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.

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.

"Since the young Chinese workers would never dream of making demands against Microsoft or the other corporations, this permits the corporations to tout their codes of conduct while knowing full well that they will never be implemented. It's all just part of the game."

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.

"Therefore, I still push myself to continue working in spite of my exhaustion. When I finish my four hours of overtime, I'm extremely tired. At this time, even if someone offered me an extravagant dinner, I probably would refuse. I just want to sleep!"

Does Microsoft abide the alleged working conditions at KYE Systems? The company sent seattlepi.com the following statement:

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.

In its Vendor Code of Conduct (PDF), Microsoft says its business partners "shall" (in part):

* "Cooperate with Microsoft's commitment to a workforce free of harassment and unlawful discrimination."
* "Provide a safe and healthy work environment and fully comply with all applicable safety and health laws, regulations and practices."
* "Not engage in physical discipline or abuse. Physical abuse or discipline, the threat of physical abuse, sexual or other harassment and verbal abuse or other forms of intimidation is prohibited."
* "Pay living wages under humane conditions."
* "Comply with all local and national minimum working age laws or regulations and not utilize child labor. Vendors cannot employ anyone under the age of 15, under the age for completing compulsory education or under the legal minimum working age for employment, apprenticeship programs for the educational benefit of younger people and will not do business with those who abuse such systems."

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.

"All of the work study students are young, just 16 and 17 years old. However in 2007 and 2008, when production at the KYE factory was booming, it appears that some 14- and 15-year-olds may have been illegally recruited from junior middle schools," the NLC alleged. "We have no way to document this, but in reviewing dozens of pictures smuggled out of the factory, there do appear to be child workers. Moreover, a senior observer at the factory estimated that 80 to 100 of the students were indeed just 14 or 15 years old."

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.

"Workers are told to respond they are 'very satisfied' when asked about working conditions, their dorms and meals. To make this sound even more 'authentic,' workers are told to 'spontaneously' mention other factories where they had worked in the past, where conditions were 'awful.' They are more 'hopeful' now that that they are working at KYE."

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.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/201685.asp

[The Cleric]

There were a few reports a short while ago about factories making Apple products under similar conditions. Pretty much sucks to be working class in China in general.

[frigidmagi]

Bloody hell. I'm willing to bet that Microsoft just didn't bother to ask any questions.

[The Cleric]

Do you think any company that contracts out to Asia markets does? There's a reason it's so cheap.

[frigidmagi]

Do you think any company that contracts out to Asia markets does?

Likely not. After all, they'll just say "they're not really our employees so it's not our fault." Or "It's the responsibility of the Chinese government to keep this from happening not us"

CS Lewis was right, the most evil is done by men in fancy suits and lily soft hands who never rise their voices in well lit offices.

[Cynical Cat]

As long as the suffering is indirectly inflicted, a lot of people don't notice it or are bothered by it.