China Labor Watch

China Labor Watch (CLW) is a U.S. based non-profit organization founded by labor activist Li Qiang in 2000. It works with governmental and nongovernmental groups to highlight and put a end to labor abuses involving Chinese workers. The organization's work has lead to action by companies like Disney and Samsung in reforming their factories.

History

CLW's founder, Li Qiang, first witnessed the exploitative labor conditions present in China while working in his hometown in Sichuan Province. After seeing these injustices firsthand, Qiang became a public advocate and conducted his first factory investigation in 1999. For three years, he secured positions at factories and, once inside, Qiang guided workers on how to protect their rights.

Concerned for his safety, Qiang fled China and entered the United States through a humanitarian visa. After arriving, he realized the lack of awareness in Western democratic societies of the working and living conditions of Chinese workers - prompting Qiang to establish China Labor Watch.

Initially, CLW reported on Chinese media, bringing attention to labor protests and critiquing the Chinese government's involvement in perpetuating labor exploitation. CLW has gone on to investigate hundreds of factories in China and report its findings. Since 2021, CLW has expanded its reach to investigate labor conditions and advocate for Chinese workers around the globe.

Overview

Since 2000, CLW has trained over ten thousand workers, conducted over five hundred assessments, published over one hundred reports, and had over two hundred features in the media. CLW has been cited by several international news organizations.

CLW promotes the rights of workers from its U.S. based offices. To achieve this goal, the organization:

1. Conducts investigations and publishes independent investigative reports on working conditions present in global supply chains.
2. Works with civil society groups, unions, government stakeholders, and media to expose ongoing malpractices and violations. When possible, engages with multinational corporations to pressure firms to conform to international labor standards and end the mistreatment of Chinese workers.
3. Facilitates the training of individual workers on rights awareness, legal proceedings, workplace negotiations, and other forms of advocacy.
4. Builds solidarity networks amongst workers and empowers individuals to fight for their legal rights in order to end instances of labor exploitation.
5. Operates an open hotline that workers can reach to report violations, seek advice, connect for legal assistance, or receive additional consultation.

CLW additionally has several ongoing programs aimed at improving local working conditions and promoting workers’ rights.

Investigations

CLW has been reporting on supply chain conditions within major industries such as electronics, toys, automotive, apparel and more since its inception. These investigations have managed to uncover child labor, excessive working hours, unpaid wages, exploitation, illegal use of student and dispatch workers, and workplace deaths and injuries amongst other labor violations.

CLW has engaged with major international brands, government entities, and media to facilitate joint conversations and push for improved working conditions within global suppliers. Since CLW began reporting on larger brands, there have been notable outcomes. Apple has increased the pay and social benefits of workers and altered labor practices within target manufacturers. Additionally, brands such as Samsung have reportedly conducted over 100 audits to further investigate the findings of CLW reports. Additionally, CLW has held face-to-face meetings with executives in companies such as Disney on more than 10 occasions, released joint statements with other labor organizations pushing for improvements, published independent collaborative reports with The Guardian and other international media sources, and engaged in various conversations with company representatives regarding the systemic labor rights violations of Chinese workers in their supply chain.

Interventions

• 2000: Li Qiang testified before the U.S. Congress, in opposition to granting China favored nation trade status. In the hearing he stated that Chinese laborers are used as machines and only earn twenty three cents an hour.
• 2001: Laid off workers from a VTech factory in Guangdong Province received their legally mandated unemployment benefits after CLW helped take their case to court.
• 2002: CLW helped 1,000 workers who were laid off by a state-owned company in the city of Panjin (Liaoning Province) receive 450,000 RMB legally owed compensation.
• 2004: CLW and other activist organizations successfully campaigned for the release of ten imprisoned Stella International workers by hiring labor lawyers and by writing advocacy letters asking the companies for which Stella produces to insist on leniency.
• 2004: CLW began pressing Chinese factory owners to provide injury insurance for their workers. Finally, in 2007, in the wake of these efforts by CLW and other organizations, the Chinese government began to require factories to provide such insurance.
• 2005: Testified in front of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission to urge for the release.
• 2005: A CLW-funded legal aid program helped about one hundred workers in Shenzhen to receive adequate wages. The program educated about eight hundred workers on the law and labor issues, and trained ten labor activists.
• 2006: CLW helped coordinate ten thousand workers in launching a petition on labor rights protection in Shenzhen.
• 2012: CLW's founder, Li Qiang, testified in Congress to discuss the unacceptable working conditions in China, the failure of the auditing system, the importance of multinational corporations and government entities in creating impactful change.
• 2014: Li Qiang, testified in Congress again on labor violations in the toy industry based on the findings of CLW reports.
• 2017: Three CLW investigators at Ivanka Trump's factory in China were detained by the police on suspicion of infringing trade secrets. Due to CLW's efforts, the three investigators were released on bail after being detained for a month, and were acquitted a year later as Chinese prosecutors were pressured to withdraw charges.

Impact

Some of the organization's most noted impacts include:

Child Labor

CLW has played a significant role in the fight against child labor within global supply chains.

In 2009, CLW released a report on a supplier for Disney, detailing findings of underage labor, low wages, mandatory overtime, and hazardous working conditions. Published following the death of a 17-year-old worker in the facility, CLW uncovered that the boy had been hired when he was just 15 and was one of many underage employees who were found to be as young as 13. Following the report, Disney released a remediation plan for the factory location. CLW conducted a follow-up investigation which found that age requirements for workers were now enforced, IDs were collected to verify legitimacy, rest days were implemented, minimum wage rates were met, and compensation efforts for work-related injuries increased. CLW went on to conduct dozens of investigations into different Disney suppliers, uncovering the systematic use of underage labor, hazardous working conditions, and inadequate allocation of compensation and rest.

Additionally in 2014, just a week after a Samsung audit found no evidence of underage employees in its global supply chain, CLW uncovered child workers, student labor, and excessive overtime in a factory in southern China. This was not the first instance of child labor found in Samsung's supply chain as dozens of previous CLW investigations found evidence of the same issue persisting since at least 2012. The company suspended the factory following the reports and subsequently communicated with CLW via emails and phone calls, urging CLW to notify Samsung about the existence of child labor in their supply chain if found in the future. Samsung also stated it would carry out a follow-up investigation, but denied the allegations citing previous internal audits. After finding evidence to support CLW's claim, Samsung claimed that it would conduct serious work to prevent the use of child labor in its supply chain. CLW continued to provide evidence to Samsung and encouraged the company and its supplier to carry out reforms to ensure labor practices conformed to labor regulations.

CLW's reports on child labor in the toy and electronics industry have also been cited as a source for both the U.S. Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.

Student Labor

CLW also regularly monitors the illegal use of student interns within global suppliers.

In 2018, a CLW report alerted Amazon founder Jeff Bezos of the illegal and excessive use of interns at a Foxconn factory. A company director issued a response, pointing to the company's independent audits and its Supplier Code of Conduct. CLW worked with The Guardian to send a reporter to China to further corroborate the findings. The story was published in June 2018 and caught international media attention, resulting in Amazon issuing a statement acknowledging the violations and inadequate overtime compensation provided at the factory. The company said it had already conducted an audit in March, uncovered the problems, and requested a “corrective action plan” from Foxconn. Follow-up reports in 2019 alleged that student interns as young as 16 were being hired to work overtime. “We urgently investigated these allegations, initiated weekly reviews of this issue, and addressed this with Foxconn at the most senior level,” an Amazon spokesperson stated. In 2022, CLW published a report on another Amazon supplier, Hengyang Foxconn, and detailed the labor violations found in the factory. As a result of these efforts, nearly 1 million RMB was paid to increase the wages of temporary workers and increase the total number of permanent employees. Factory management was also held accountable for the uncovered violations and CLW has continued to fight against the illegal use of student interns.

Belt and Road Initiative

Since 2020, CLW has gone on to report on the impact of the Chinese invested Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Producing reports on nickel mining, overseas labor, and forced labor, CLW continues to monitor conditions for migrant Chinese workers who are left vulnerable as a result of BRI projects.

CLW has also gone on to aid overseas workers to return home to China who were trapped within these industrial projects due to COVID-19 restrictions. Through the release of reports, coordinating with local representatives and embassies, and providing legal aid directly to workers, CLW acted as a major source of aid for overseas workers throughout the pandemic. Advocating against the widespread practices such as passport confiscation and recruitment fees, CLW aims to fight instances of forced labor overseas and continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to create a safe working environment for migrant Chinese workers abroad.

Funding

The majority of CLW's funding comes from project grants from a wide range of government or quasi-governmental agencies and private foundations, all of which are based outside of China. CLW also receives funding from private individual donors.

See also

• China Labour Bulletin

External links

• Official Site (English)
• 中国劳工观察 (official site, Chinese)
• International Council of Toy Industries CARE Foundation Statement on China Labor Watch Report