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An Open Letter to US President Bill Clinton
July 2, 1998
(China Labour Bulletin n. 43, July-August 1998)
Mr. President
In April 1997 as the President of the United States, you endorsed
the "White House Apparel Industry Partnership" and thereby
pledged the US govenament's commitment to ensure workers producing
goods for the US businesses will be treated fairly and according
to international labor standalds. Yet, your commitment has yet
to be put into practice. Rathrr, it has gone the way of humall
rights diplomacy and calls fol frredom and democracy which have
been met with little success.
In February of this year a Chinese woman worker was beaten unconscious
by several security guards at a factory producing toys for McDonald's.
She was later diagnosed as suffering from paranoia and execessive
anxiety as a result of the beating and received psychiatric treatment.
Other workers in the factory revealed that forced avertime work
unreasonable wage deductions, kicking, slapphig and verbal abuse
are common practices.
Aceordilig to research conducted by the Hong Kong Christian Industrial
Committee and Asia Monitor Resource Center in 1997, and recently
confilmed in March 1998 by research undertaken by the National
Labor Committee in the US, workers in China's Pearl River Delta
producing sports shoes and gariments for major US brans have to
work on average 10 to 12 hours every day and overtime far exceesing
the legal limit. They found thet as of a few months ago, in 22
companies producing garments for famous US brands, the average
hourly wage is US$ 0.24 (HK$ 1.9), and the average working time
is 75 hours per week. Workers typically work six to seven days
a week for monthly wages of only Rmb 500 to 700 and are not paid
according to the clear guidelines set forth in Chine's labor laws.
Workers also complain about unreasonable fine, poor ventilation
on the shop floor and serious industrial haelth safety problems,
such as working with dangerous chemicals with little or no protection.
For exemple, according to workers at one factory making shoes
for a well-known US company,
workers on probation are liable to arbitrary dismissal with no
compensation;
workers who want to resign have to give 15 days' notice or pay
back 15 days' wages;
workers who do not show up for work for three consecutive days
or five days in a month are colisidered as having voluntarily
resigned and are not entitled to the wages due;
no one is allowed to exit the factory between 7:30 am and 7:30
pm;
no talking is allowed on the shop floor; and
managerial state can enter and search the workers' dormitory at
any time.
These conditions not only violate the codes of conducts drafted
by the US transnational corporations, but also the labor law in
China.
The above is only the tip of the iceberg. We urge you to immediately
call for an end to the violations of workers' rights by factories
producing for US transnational corporations in China and to keep
the promises made by "White House Apparel Industrial Partnership".
Otherwise, the so-called human rights diplomacy you employ is
merely empty rhetoric.
Asia Monitor Resource Center Ltd
China Labour Bulletin
Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee
Honk Kong Confederation of Trade Unions
Hong Kong Young Christian Workers
Justice & Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese
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