Chinese Amazon Contractor Not Paying Workers
Amazon has hired and paid illegally to thousands of agency workers who make its Echo smart speakers and Kindles in China, as the company has admitted. The Observer and the US-based China Labor Watch have reportedly conducted an investigation into the “unethical and illegal” working conditions at Amazon`s supplier factory in Hengyang. The response of Amazon was a statement regretting the “issues of concern”. The company has also disclosed that its own auditors visited the Foxconn factory in March and confirmed that there were agency workers hired illegally who were not paid fairly for working overtime. This is, unfortunately, a common practice in China, where agency staff or dispatch workers do not get sick pay or holiday pay and can be laid off without wages when there is no need of their work, as the Guardian writes in an article . The online newspaper explains that the China Labor Watch investigation published on Sunday in a joint effort with the Observer has found that more than 40% of the staff in the Foxconn factory were agency workers. The employees who worked overtime were reportedly being paid at the normal hourly rate instead of the time-and-a-half that is the requirement of the Chinese law and the ethical code of Amazon. The Guardian quoted Li Qiang, executive director of China Labor Watch, who wrote to Amazon`s chief executive, Jeff Bezos, last month to discuss the concerning results of the investigation: “This violates Chinese labor law. Foxconn uses a large number of dispatch workers and violates workers’ interests via these dispatch companies. This practice, in and of itself, is unethical and illegal.” Quing added that he hopes that Amazon will compel their suppliers to improve their working situations and produce Amazon`s products in more ethical conditions for the people working there. Kara Hartnett Hurst, Amazon`s head of worldwide sustainability, has been cited answering that Amazon recognizes their responsibility to ensure that their products are manufactured in an environment that is not exploiting the workers. These practices have been observed in many Chinese cities and other countries across the world. And, this is no surprise since fast production times and low costs are a priority for businesses and governments that are often failing to create an ethical working environment. Read the full article
