Silenced to deliver – Mobile Phone Manufacturing in China and the Philippines - 中欧社会论坛 - China Europa Forum

Silenced to deliver – Mobile Phone Manufacturing in China and the Philippines

Authors: Jenny Chan, Esther de Haan, Sara Nordbrand and Annika Torstensson

Date: Septembre 2008

Published by SOMO and SwedWatch

Mobile phone industry: Social and economic background

In 2006, more than 1 billion mobile phones were produced. 50% of these are produced in China. 10% of global semi-conductors are manufactured in the Philippines. Between 1996 and 2005, Asia-Pacific share of global electronics manufacturing rose from 20% to 42%. Most workers are women.

Methodology

Silence to Deliver surveyed labour conditions in 6 factories in China and the Philippines. These factories supply Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, LG and Sony Ericsson, which together account for more than 80% of the mobile phone market.

Survey findings

  • Low wages – in both countries, workers are often paid to the minimum legal wage, which does not allow to cover basic needs;

  • Excessive work hours – for example, all surveyed Chinese factories exceeded the legal overtime threshold of 36 hours;

  • Punitive fines – though not always illegal, they are based on subjective or unfair grounds, such as falling asleep because of excessive work hours;

  • Disrespect of union rights;

  • Health and safety problems – workers stated that they suffer from, for example, muscle strains, eye problems, allergy; and did not always wear safety gear – some allegations were denied by one factory’s management;

  • Gendered hiring practices to avoid protests – in China, workforce includes many migrant young women, who are not prepared to defend themselves. Practices of splitting workers that come from the same village for example have been reported. In the Philippines, however, some female workers reported that they enjoyed better conditions at the factory than as workers in the informal sector.

According to the report, CSR practices of large mobile phones companies do not create the conditions for good labour conditions within their suppliers

  • The supply chain, despite codes of conduct and monitoring, remains quite uncontrolled. Codes of conduct and monitoring for example are not sufficient to reverse trends of overtime due to un-sufficient wages. And if there is scrutiny on the first- and second-tier suppliers’ labour conditions, the rest of the supply chain remain uncontrolled;

  • There is a contradiction between asking suppliers to raise social and environmental standards on the one hand, and to deliver products at ever cheaper prices on the other hand;

  • Suppliers see CSR as a cost, and would need more guidance for implementing good CSR practices.

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