Disney Sweatshops????

[shelby_36]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co on Thursday said it will investigate claims by a labor rights advocacy group of unsafe conditions at two Chinese factories that make books for Disney.

The National Labor Committee said the factories forced employees to work 10 to 13-hour work days and paid them below the legal minimum at the factories.

Disney said in a statement it had contacted Verite, a non-profit social auditing and training firm, to conduct an investigation of the claims in the two factories.

In New York the National Labor Committee released a videotape of people with faces obscured to hide their identities who said they were workers at the Hung Hing printing factory in Shenzhen province and faced dangerous conditions.

The footage was provided to the Committee by a Hong Kong human rights group called Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior.

National Labor Committee Director Charles Kernaghan said Disney should make public the names of the factories that make its consumer goods and its process for insuring safe and fair labor conditions.

Disney in a statement said it takes the Labor Committee's claims "very seriously" and that it conducts regular audits of the factories that produce Disney branded merchandise, including 20 inspections since 1998 of the two facilities in question.

The company said it will work closely with Verite and "take the appropriate actions to remediate violations found."

 

[bicker]

It is remarkable how many people living in oppressive regimes have had or will have an American company to thank for improving their working conditions.

 

[Viking]

It is remarkable how many people living in oppressive regimes have had or will have an American company to thank for improving their working conditions.

What an arrogant thing to say as it is even more remarkable how many people living in oppressive regimes have had or will have to work under horrible conditions to manufacture cheap merchandise for the American and European market

 

[shelby_36]

I know Disney does not have total control over these companies that make their stuff but i also believe they are not even bother to check for abuses. it is easier to ignore it or close your eyes and say I didn't know about these conditions, then to correct the problem or go else where. It is easier and a heck of a lot cheaper.

 

[minnie61650]

I know Disney does not have total control over these companies that make their stuff but i also believe they are not even bother to check for abuses. it is easier to ignore it or close your eyes and say I didn't know about these conditions, then to correct the problem or go else where. It is easier and a heck of a lot cheaper.

Hey
I am glad you found you found your post again.
To those who don't know shelby thought her post about the sweatshops was deleted yesterday.
Sometimes they are moved. Sometimes when coments are hostile threads are deleted and sometimes I think computer worms eat some of the posts.
I'm glad you found yours shelby.
Have a great day!
Linda

 

[shelby_36]

Thanks..I didn't find it though..It was deleted (and it wasn't hostile) I had to repost it.

 

[wdw4us2]

It doesn't surprise me at all.

Before the evil Michael Ei$ner took over Walt Disney Productions, a large portion of Disney merchandise was still made in the USA. Toys were manufactured in Japan, but clothing was made here and of better quality.

By moving manufacturing to China, more profits were realized while quality went down. With the evil Lord Ei$ner, it's all about making money.

I feel badly for those who have to manufacture goods under sweatshop conditions.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Anybody see the irony of Disney making stuff in China?

70% of all software in China is pirated......that includes DVDs ( Disney ) and PC / Mac software... and I'm sure a fair share of clothing as well.

BTW, that 70% is a real number, not just something I came up with.

Go to ebay, and find tons of pirated software being sold from China / Hong Kong.

 

[shelby_36]

But should Disney share any responsibility for the work conditions in the places it manufactures or assembles its products?

Or is it ok to ignore what happens there as long as Disney turns a profit?

 

[caitycaity]

i wonder if the giant inflatable rat will show up outside of wdw one of these days.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

i wonder if the giant inflatable rat will show up outside of wdw one of these days.

Ack that thing is SCARY.

 

[caitycaity]

Ack that thing is SCARY.

a rat like that can be found pretty much year round at some place in dc that a union is accusing of unfair business practices.

it would be pretty funny to see the rat fight the mouse.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

a rat like that can be found pretty much year round at some place in dc that a union is accusing of unfair business practices.

it would be pretty funny to see the rat fight the mouse.

Yes it would.

But I still say it's scary.

 

[shelby_36]

So are you saying you think this is just a wild goose chase? it sounds like this has been being investigated for several years?

 

[floridaminnie]

Yep...happens all the time all around the world. This is nothing new.

 

[shelby_36]

What happens? Wild goose chases or sweatshops? So does that mean that Disney and large corp get off the hook since everyone does it?

 

[floridaminnie]

Well what can they do when it's happening in a foreign country?

 

[shelby_36]

Stop having their products made there? Inspect the companies they are using more frequently?

 

[minnie61650]

Ty beanie babies are also made in China and I bought hundrens of those little guys.
Then I found out they were made in China and I was saddened thinking about it .
I hate to admit it but a few months later I was out buying more.
Cheap labor has become a fact of life.
It is sad but people in the US work for minimum wage and people in other counties will work for next to nothing just to feed their families.
I don't have a solution. I really wish I did.
Linda

 

[bicker]

What an arrogant thing to say as it is even more remarkable how many people living in oppressive regimes have had or will have to work under horrible conditions to manufacture cheap merchandise for the American and European market

Not in the slightest. You choose to look at only the bad, perhaps because of your fear or other animosity towards the United States. I choose to ensure there is balance in this discourse, and highlighted the good that the United States does, perhaps because of my national pride. The reality is that the United States doesn't oppress other countries -- they do that to themselves. The United States is helpful, perhaps to a fault, I'll grant you that. Beyond all that, to hold an American company responsible from what another country does to its own people is utterly ludicrous.

should Disney share any responsibility for the work conditions in the places it manufactures or assembles its products?

Disney should take action (such as seeking new suppliers) when problems are raised. It isn't the responsibility of an American company to enforce civil rights in a foreign country. There are many anti-Americans who feel it isn't even the United States government's responsibility to do so, so surely it isn't the responsibility of a company.