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After reading shedloads of articles which accuse its Chinese business partners of running a sweatshop to make its products, a very surprised Microsoft has dispatched a team to the far east to 'investigate'.
A couple of days ago we ran a yarn which described working conditions as hell on toast. This was based on a report by rights group the National Labour Committee. It claimed that teenage workers at a factory operated by KYE Systems Corp in Dongguan, China, faced military-style discipline, were fined for mistakes and housed in dirty dormitory rooms after working 15-hour shifts.
Brian Tobey, who heads manufacturing for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices unit, in a blog post on the company's website said he had dispatched a team of independent auditors en route to the facility to conduct a complete and thorough investigation. He added that if they found that the factory is not adhering to our standards, we will take appropriate action. What is surprising is that Microsoft never noticed that it has been paying out outfit which ran a sweat shop.
Tobey claims that an independent auditor has inspected the KYE factory annually, while Microsoft representatives conduct quarterly on-site assessments. So what will be different between this visit and the others? In fact Tobey seems to think, like Apple does with its Foxconn site, that it is doing all the right things.
"Over the past two years, we have required documentation and verification of worker age, and no incidence of child labor has been detected. Worker overtime has been significantly reduced, and worker compensation is in line with the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition standards for the Dongguan area," he said.
But it seems that Microsoft, like Apple and Foxconn, seem to be managing to miss the bigger picture. While their independent inquires always find something minor, which is tweaked, they fail to see the bigger picture which is always pointed out to them by a human rights group. It is hard to argue with some of the pictures that are shown by the National Labour Committee.
More here.
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Microsoft dispatches fact finding team to China
Do you
really run a sweat shop?
After reading shedloads of articles which accuse its Chinese business partners of running a sweatshop to make its products, a very surprised Microsoft has dispatched a team to the far east to 'investigate'.
A couple of days ago we ran a yarn which described working conditions as hell on toast. This was based on a report by rights group the National Labour Committee. It claimed that teenage workers at a factory operated by KYE Systems Corp in Dongguan, China, faced military-style discipline, were fined for mistakes and housed in dirty dormitory rooms after working 15-hour shifts.
Brian Tobey, who heads manufacturing for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices unit, in a blog post on the company's website said he had dispatched a team of independent auditors en route to the facility to conduct a complete and thorough investigation. He added that if they found that the factory is not adhering to our standards, we will take appropriate action. What is surprising is that Microsoft never noticed that it has been paying out outfit which ran a sweat shop.
Tobey claims that an independent auditor has inspected the KYE factory annually, while Microsoft representatives conduct quarterly on-site assessments. So what will be different between this visit and the others? In fact Tobey seems to think, like Apple does with its Foxconn site, that it is doing all the right things.
"Over the past two years, we have required documentation and verification of worker age, and no incidence of child labor has been detected. Worker overtime has been significantly reduced, and worker compensation is in line with the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition standards for the Dongguan area," he said.
But it seems that Microsoft, like Apple and Foxconn, seem to be managing to miss the bigger picture. While their independent inquires always find something minor, which is tweaked, they fail to see the bigger picture which is always pointed out to them by a human rights group. It is hard to argue with some of the pictures that are shown by the National Labour Committee.
More here.