CHINA & US: Chinese factory in Microsoft probe

2010-4-17 

By Wang Xiang

MICROSOFT Corp is investigating allegations that one of its Chinese suppliers is exploiting staff and making them work in inhumane conditions.

KYE Systems Corp's factory in the southern city of Dongguan, which produces Microsoft mice and Xbox controllers, allegedly hired underage workers and made them work as long as 80 hours a week for less than 60 US cents an hour, according to The National Labor Committee, a workers-rights organization based in the United States.

A team of independent auditors is in the facility for a complete and thorough investigation, said Microsoft's vice president of manufacturing and operations for the entertainment and devices division, Brian Tobey, in a statement.

He said the company will take "appropriate action" if the investigation found the factory is not "adhering to its standards."

The labor committee report, which followed three years of undercover investigations, showed pictures of workers asleep at their desks and of their cramped dormitory.

Taiwan-based KYE reportedly hid underage workers in off-site facilities during previous inspections.

The report quoted a KYE worker as saying he felt like a prisoner. Workers spent 15 hours a day at their desks and were not allowed to leave their post, not even to go to toilet, the report said.

"My work is to put plastic pieces together, day and night, that's all," the report quoted one worker as saying.

Another was required to make 2,000 optical mice a day but as soon as he finished, the managers would raise the bar. The report also said the workshops were swelteringly hot in summer.

Tobey said Microsoft receives weekly reports from KYE and had seen no incidence of child labor or unpaid overtime.

KYE official Li Jiongliang said the factory's management was legal in all aspects and inspections would not scare him, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

Li said the report was produced without understanding China's reality. He said salaries were about 1,500 yuan (US$220) a month, as the report said, but that was 50 percent higher than Dongguan's minimum wage.

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