Microsoft's China suppliers get 2 wks to end illegal practices

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Economic Times

BEIJING: Two Chinese production units contracted by global giant Microsoft have been found guilty of violating labour laws and have been given a week to rectify their "illegal practices".

The companies have been accused of illegal and inhuman working conditions and if they do not change their work practices to comply with the law, they will face administrative penalties, state-run China Daily quoted authorities as saying.

The investigation was launched by the Dongguan human resources bureau, following a report from the US-based non- profit organisation National Labor Committee (NLC).

Their report, released early this week detailed long working hours, low pay, insufficient food and few freedoms for young labourers at the KYE Systems Corporation factory in Dongguan, South China's Guangdong province.



Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/software/Microsofts-China-suppliers-get-2-wks-to-end-illegal-practices/articleshow/5826500.cms

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. I wonder when Apple will be called to task

Or are they the darlings of the media?

[boppers]

5. Follow tech news much? Apple calls *themselves* to task, and is constantly scrutinized.

For starters:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7330986/Apple-admits-using-child-labour.html

[Cronus Protagonist]

6. Admitting when caught is now called "calling themselves to task"

Now that's surely Rovian.

[boppers]

8. Did you read the article?

Apparently not, or you would have seen that it was Apple's own investigations.

Apple's suppliers were caught by Apple.

[Cronus Protagonist]

14. Yea, but I've learned to dig deeper and check other sources

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/02/27/apple-child-labor-china-history-sketchy-manufacturing/

Apple refused to release the names of the offending factories, or even to list their locations.

Apple has a history of labor practices that are often under fire and complaint from human watch groups. Recently, 62 employees at a factory that Apple contracts from became poisoned with n-hexane. Apple has yet to comment on the incident.

[lbrtbell]

9. Screw Microsoft AND Apple

Linux is free and stable. I've been using it for 2 years and I love it. It's blazing fast on my PC, which was built in 1999! :)

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

12. That's nice to know. But the storie here is about Computer Hardware and not Software/OS.

I pretty sure their is something (most likely a lot) of stuff around me is made with slave labor.

[Renew Deal]

2. How bad does a factory have to be to be punished in China?

:wtf:

[obxhead]

3. Exactly what I was thinking

Those must be really horrible conditions. :(

[lbrtbell]

10. ROFL...in a rueful way

Scary thought. What ARE those people doing?!?

[Angleae]

11. It's not how bad, it's that they were caught.

And it makes the Chinese govt look bad.

[bemildred]

4. Or what? nt

[OhioChick]

7. No surprise here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x530433

[conspirator]

13. And that's why I will never buy a legal copy of windows xp nt