Toys, Children’s Products, And The Chinese Sweatshops In Which They’re Made

Consumerist has live coverage today of the Senate Commerce Committee’s hearing on toy safety, children’s products and China’s labor conditions. Tens of thousands of toys have been recalled in recent months, and many of the recalled toys were sold at Wal-Mart stores. This hearing illuminates the fact that faulty toys are inherently tied to poor working conditions in the place where they’re made: in the overwhelming number of cases, that place is China. Consumerist describes Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor Committee as he discusses working conditions the country’s toy factories:

09:47: The average workweek is 87 hours, from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
09:48: Workers are required to stand as they are yelled at by supervisors, and if anyone speaks back they are immediately fired.
09:48: The standard salary is $0.53 per hour - overtime pay is regularly confiscated.
09:50: He’s holding up a Barbie, claiming: “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Bama Anthreya of the International Labor Rights Forum goes on to explain that “Mattel, Hasbro, Fischer-Price and Disney all use sweatshops, but the biggest beneficiary is Walmart.”

The issues being discussed have far-reaching implications for Wal-Mart, which sources more than 70% of its products from China and relies on the country’s lax labor standards for its low prices. Here’s a link to the video of the hearing, and we’ll be listening in. In the mean time, check out Consumerist’s live coverage, or our archives of Wal-Mart’s toy safety record and Wal-Mart’s relationship with China.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, October 25, 2007