Microsoft sweatshop: 'We are like prisoners... We do not have a life, only work.'

Pinga · Apr 14, 2010

The factory is very crowded. In one workshop measuring around 105 by 105 feet, there were nearly 1,000 workers. In the summer, temperatures can exceed 86 degrees and workers leave their shifts dripping in sweat. It is only when the foreign clients show up that management turns on the air conditioning.

"Conditions are so bad and work at the factory so exhausting," one worker told us, "that there are not many people who can bear it for more than a year, and almost never past two years. Most workers flee after just six or eight months."

The only way such a crude production model could work-based on high school students and young women and such constant turnover-is to run the factory with prison-like discipline, controlling every second of the workers' lives. The de-humanized young workers become replaceable cogs in the wheel.

We asked some workers how they felt about working at KYE.

"We are like prisoners," one worker said. "It seems like we live only to work. We do not work to live. We do not live a life, only work."
Click to expand...

http://www.nlcnet.org/reports?id=0034

ronjor · Apr 14, 2010

Microsoft's stance

"Microsoft is committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors," a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. "Microsoft has invested heavily in a vendor accountability program and robust independent third-party auditing program to ensure conformance to the Microsoft Vendor Code of Conduct. We are aware of the NLC report and we have commenced an investigation. We take these claims seriously, and we will take appropriate remedial measures in regard to any findings of vendor misconduct."
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ars technica

Pinga · Apr 14, 2010

Yeah, if the pictures in the report are accurate, then the "vendor accountability program" and all that auditing are really working out for those workers putting together PC cameras and other devices. But hey, whatever keeps the production costs down, huh?
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http://www.microsoft-watch.com/cont...anufacturing_conditions_abysmal_says_ngo.html

Marja · Apr 14, 2010

This was at the bottom of this abysmal story (http://www.nlcnet.org/reports?id=0034) that ronjor posted.

A Strange Thing Happened
When the authoritarian government in China
proposed minor labor rights improvements for China's workers...
Microsoft and other U.S. companies fought to block them!

In 2007, the Government of China proposed several minor reforms to China's labor contract law:..............

One would have thought that Microsoft would have enthusiastically supported these very limited improvements as a first step toward government recognition of internationally recognized worker rights standards.

In fact, it was quite the opposite. Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and other U.S. companies remained silent as the American Chamber of Commerce in China-to which they belong-threatened the totalitarian government of China that the new contract law would hurt China's workers, negatively impact on China's investment environment and lead to mass layoffs.

"We believe it might have negative effects on China's investment environment" and may "reduce employment opportunities for PRC [People's Republic of China] workers."
Click to expand...

Sounds like a threat to me..."keep your sweatshops or we'll take our business to another company (or country)"!

People badmouth unions, but really there is no better tool, at this point in time, for workers, especially in developing countries.

Yeeeah, MS is going to investigate...uh-huh...if they investigate as well as they build a secure, safe, no hi-jack OS,
those workers aren't going to see much change.

On the other hand, I'll quit any complaining about my job for, well, at least a couple months..

Thanks Ronjor and pinga for bringing this to our attention.

linuxforall · Apr 14, 2010

This is why India is failing to compete with next door China, oh well! at least people have too much time on their hands there I guess, good or bad.

Pinga · Apr 15, 2010

You're ever so right, Marja. And this is what Naomi Klein, sharpest pencil in the universe, has to say:

Everyone, of course, claims to be all for rules, from President Clinton to Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates. In an odd turn of events, the need for "rules-based trade" has become the mantra of the era of deregulation. But deregulation is by definition about the removal of rules.
Click to expand...

http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2009/11/revisiting-no-logo-ten-years-later

Dogbiscuit · Apr 15, 2010

Thanks for informative posts.

iravgupta · Apr 16, 2010

Microsoft's only response should have been - "Your Potential, Our Passion".

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