Home

China: Misery in Santa's workshop -- inside China's toy factories

[This 2004 film shows that little has changed.]

December 23, 2011 -- A new report by Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) reveals the terrible working conditions endured by workers who produce many of the toys that will be enjoyed by children in the Western world this Christmas.

In Guangdong province, from where 70% of China’s toys are exported, migrant workers’ official basic salary is around 850-1320 yuan a month (US$134-208), the statutory local minimum wage. The minimum wage is barely enough for self-subsistence.

Restricted by the meagre pay, workers have to leave their children behind in their hometowns where they can only visit once a year, during Chinese New Year, and for this family reunion they cannot afford to buy what they produce as gifts for their children -- not a Mattel’s Hot Wheels toy car, not a Disney storybook. Read the full report here: December 5, 2011: Making Toys Without Joy.

[From Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal.]

Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP), formerly ASIET (Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor), is a network of solidarity activists campaigning for democratic rights, self-determination and other justice struggles in the Asia Pacific region.
ASAP's People's Power Fighting Fund runs appeals for material support for various democratic struggles in the region. To donate to this fund and to help maintain this website, you can deposit directly into the Commonwealth Bank Australia BSB 062026 Account number 1006 0743. Thank-you. Your help is appreciated.