Site Map | Archives

HomeBusinessNational/World Business

Factory violates rights, group says

related linksMore National/World Business


*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

— The pouty Bratz dolls so popular as Christmas presents are made at a factory in southern China where workers are obliged to toil up to 94 hours a week, among other violations, a labor rights group said in a report released today.

The report by U.S.-based China Labor Watch and the National Labor Committee details allegations of harsh working conditions, especially during peak delivery months, and of violations of workers' rights to injury and health insurance.

The edgy, urban-styled rival to Barbie is made by a subcontractor in the southern export hub of Shenzhen, as is typical of many products sold in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Workers are paid the equivalent of 17 U.S. cents for each doll. The dolls retail for $16 a piece or more, the report said.

Calls to the Van Nuys, Calif., headquarters of MGA Entertainment Inc., which launched the Bratz brand in 2001, were not answered and there was no immediate response to an e-mailed inquiry to the company's public relations office.

Calls to the China-based spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a main distributor of the dolls, went unanswered today.

The allegations in the report describe practices found at many Chinese factories producing name-brand products for export. They include required overtime exceeding the legal maximum of 36 hours a month, forcing workers to stay on the job to meet stringent production quotas and the denial of paid sick leave and other benefits.