Uncovering the Dark Side of Electronic Device Manufacturing: Solidar Suisse Report Exposes Abuses

2023-11-10 21:28:02

The sale of electronic devices explodes at the end of the year. However, those who produce them often work to the point of exhaustion and for a pittance, recalls Solidar Suisse. The NGO criticizes the Swiss brands that sell them for their inaction in the face of this problem.

A Swiss household spends nearly 1,100 francs per year on electronic devices, indicates Solidar Suisse in a rapport published Friday.

As new devices are released and global trade events approach, orders at mega-factories experience real spikes. According to an investigation carried out by China Labor Watch at the request of Solidar Suisse in Chinese factories which produce for well-known brands such as Apple, Lenovo, HP and others, abuses remain commonplace.

>> Read regarding it: These Chinese employees who manufacture smartphones at the risk of their lives

Little progress

Excessive overtime, miserable salaries etc. are well known but little has changed to date, the report notes. What’s new is that factories now hire the majority of staff on a temporary basis.

Concretely, labor is attracted with high bonuses for exorbitant working hours, before being fired as soon as orders from brands decline.

Wage theft is also a very widespread phenomenon. Social security contributions are not paid to temporary staff and recruitment agencies rob them of their bonuses.

Between 11 and 14 hours per day

Wages paid in factories are so low that staff cannot make a living without working excessive overtime, the report continues. It is usual to work at least 250 hours per month and between 11 and 14 hours per day, often without a single day off.

Insults, slights and punishments by hierarchical managers are commonplace. Finally, sexual harassment is widespread and generally goes unpunished.

Investigation into the liability of Swiss retailers

Faced with this reality, Solidar Suisse wanted to know more regarding the degree of responsibility and transparency of “the most famous” Swiss retailers.

“We must conclude that there is still a long way to go,” writes the NGO: brands like Digitec Galaxus, Interdiscount or Brack thus “do not sufficiently place the companies that supply them and the electronics brands in front of their responsibilities in order to combat (…) human rights violations”.

Often, guidelines exist, notes the report. But the tools used by retailers do not identify abuses within supply chains. Companies also demand too little transparency from brands and themselves provide virtually no information on the location and conditions of manufacture of their products.

Necessary changes

For Solidar Suisse, “a radical transformation is necessary”. Concretely, Swiss brands must notably demand more transparency from electronics brands and make it a key criterion for the admission of products into their offer.

They must also require brands and their suppliers to strictly respect labor and human rights, and “rigorously” monitor compliance with directives.

Finally, brands must publish their own guidelines and control results, and make them easily accessible to consumers.

>> See also the subject of Temps Present on the forced labor of Chinese prisoners

Forced labor, the SOS of a Chinese prisoner / Present time / 48 min. / Thursday at 8:12 p.m.

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