Foxconn Technology Group says it is investigating a factory it operates that makes Amazon devices, including Kindles, after an in-depth report by advocacy group China Labor Watch criticized its “appalling working conditions,” including excessive hours and over-reliance on temporary workers.
“We are carrying out a full investigation of the areas raised by the report, and if found to be true, immediate actions will be taken to bring the operations into compliance with our Code of Conduct,” Taiwan-based Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., told Reuters.
New York-based China Labor Watch says its investigators were sent to the factory, which is located in south central China in Hunan Province’s Hengyang city and also makes Amazon’s Echo Dot Bluetooth speakers and tablets, from August 2017 to April 2018.
During that time, the group says it found that dispatch, or temporary, workers made up more than 40% of the workforce, far exceeding the 10% limit set by Chinese law. Dispatch workers were also treated very differently than regular workers, receiving far less safety training and no overtime wages. Instead, dispatch workers were paid the same rate, or 14.5 RMB ($2.26) an hour for both normal and overtime hours.
Though regular workers were better compensated in terms of wages and benefits, China Labor Watch says both groups were subjected to long hours and low wages, with workers putting in more than 100 overtime hours during peak season, even though the legal limit is 36 hours, and some working consecutively for 14 days. Workers on average earned wages between 2000 to 3000 RMB ($312.12 to $468.19), significantly less than Hengyang’s monthly average wage of 4,647 RMB ($725.22), but often had their overtime hours as punishment for taking leave or having unexcused absences.
The report also claimed that the factory had poor fire safety in its dormitories, lack of sufficiently protective equipment, verbally abusive managers and the “absence of a functioning labor union.”
“Amazon has the ability to not only ensure its supplier factories respects the rights of workers but also that there is equal pay for equal work,” said China Labor Watch on its site. “Amazon’s profits have come at the expense of workers who labor in appalling working conditions and have no choice but to work excessive overtime hours to sustain a livelihood.”
In a press statement, Amazon said it audited the Hengyang factory most recently in March 2018 and asked them to address “issues of concern” related to dispatch workers and overtime.
“Amazon takes reported violations of our Supplier Code of Conduct extremely seriously. Amazon regularly assesses suppliers, using independent auditors as appropriate, to monitor continued compliance and improvement. In the case of the Foxconn Hengyang factory, Amazon completed its most recent audit in March 2018 and identified two issues of concern. We immediately requested a corrective action plan from Foxconn Hengyang detailing their plan to remediate the issues identified, and we are conducting regular assessments to monitor for implementation and compliance with our Supplier Code of Conduct. We are committed to ensuring that these issues are resolved.”
This is, of course, not the first time labor issues at Foxconn, one of the largest electronic OEMs in the world and the main supplier of Apple’s iPhones, have been scrutinized. Most notably, conditions at its Longhua district factory in Shenzhen were blamed for a series of worker suicides in 2010. Serious fires have also broken out at several of its facilities, including one that resulted in three deaths at a factory that made iPad 2s.
TechCrunch has contacted Foxconn for comment.