HATLIFE

MAINLAND HEADWEAR HOLDINGS FACTORY ACCUSED OF EXPLOITING CHILD LABOR

A woman looks at merchandise for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in Shanghai. Organizers of the Beijing Olympics have launched an investigation into claims that Chinese factories making the official merchandise were abusing their workers and using children as young as 12.
(AFP)

The TUC has accused factories in China of exploiting children to make Olympic goods. According to reports 3,000 workers at Mainland Headwear Holdings' factory in Shenzen were paid as little as 45% of the local minimum wage.

They were also forced to work overtime in excess of the legal limit. "Children and adult workers are being grossly exploited so that unscrupulous employers can make more profit. Their actions tarnish the Olympic ideal, and we don't want more of the same when the Olympics come to London. The IOC must add respect for workers' rights to the Olympic charter,” said a spokesperson for the Olympic games.

Researchers for the Playfair Alliance, an international grouping including the TUC, looked into working conditions at four factories making 2008 Olympics bags, headgear and other products.

At Le Kit Stationery, a company in Guangdong which is producing stationery for the 2008 Olympics, they found 20 children on the production line. The youngest was only 12. "These youngsters had been hired during the school holidays and were working from around 7.30am until 10.30pm, doing the same jobs as adults. Forced overtime, harsh fines, the punishment of workers, and wages less than half the legal minimum were among the violations uncovered in the factory, according to the Guardian.

The researchers also found exploitative practices at the Yue Wong Cheong company's production lines in Shenzen and Eagle Leather Products bag factory in Guangdong.

Organizers of the Beijing Olympics threatened to cancel the contracts of companies using child labor and violating minimum-wage rules to make Olympic-licensed products.