4. Case study: Top Toy, Brio and Coop in China - Swedwatch

5. Conclusion
SwedWatch may with great certainty establish that the companies indirectly, through their
suppliers, violate Chinese legislation, international conventions and their own codes of
conduct within the toy manufacturing in southern China. This is also done to a larger extent
than the Swedish and western purchasing companies are aware of. Young migrant workers
who often work 14 hours a day and live in dormitories in connection with the factories have
manufactured the toys that we buy for our children. The wages that they receive are very low,
even by Chinese standards. They are often not covered by statutory insurance, do not have an
employment contract and don't have the possibility to organise. It also seems as though an
unexpected effect of the code of conduct and the inspection work of the companies is that the
Chinese suppliers have found sophisticated ways of deceiving their auditors and inspectors.
For the last few years, the companies have started to put demands on their suppliers and have
in many cases also developed a method to try and tackle insufficient working conditions.
Some improvements of the working environment in the factories can be palpable. During the
last decade, the Chinese factories have become safer and healthier workplaces, which to a
large extent is because western companies have begun to introduce demands in this field.
Despite this, the guest workers continue to be completely unaware of their right, which
creates a breeding ground for exploitation. They are often exposed to long working days, low
wages, an unhealthy working environment and they find it hard to influence their work
situation.
HKCIC examination shows that the suppliers of the Swedish companies violate several laws
and their own codes of conduct;
The single most common violation against the legislation and the codes of conduct relates to
the working hours. According to HKCIC interviews eight out of the nine examined suppliers
violated the Chinese legislation with regards to working hours. Five of the plants have almost
14 hour long working days and overtime of about 150 hours per month during peak season.
Six out of the nine factories do not have a day off per week during peak season. Chinese
legislation and an ILO convention 139 , ratified by China, lays down the right to at least one-day
off per week. At some of the factories the employees work without any time off for several
months in a row.
Five out of the nine suppliers do not give a minimum wage guarantee, which means that the
wages may sink to under the minimum wage level during off-peak season. The minimum
wage at Dongguan is at present 43,3 Euro/month and the minimum wage in Shenzhen is 45
Euro/month 140 . NGOs and workers that SwedWatch talked to believe that reasonable living
wages, that is wages which at least will cover the basic needs, in the region are close to 72
Euro 141 . In one of the factories the workers maintain that the wages can be as low as 19 Euro
during the low season.
Eight out of nine factories have a delayed payment of wages between 15 and 40 days. This
leads to large financial problems for the employees. According to the workers, this delay is
used to stop the workers from leaving the company.
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