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Article

13 Aug 2019

Author:
VOA News

China: Amazon and Foxconn respond to allegations of child labour in supplier factory

"Amazon Pledges to Probe Claims of Worker Abuse at China Factory", 12 August 2019 

Amazon says it is investigating claims of worker abuse at a factory in China after a labor rights group found teenage employees at the factory were required to work night shifts and overtime hours for low pay...

The executive director and founder of China Labor Watch, Li Qiang, told VOA, "Amazon and Foxconn should allow independent agencies to monitor the working environment of the related factories. Only in this way can violations of labor laws be prevented and effectively solved."

The report also said student intern workers at Foxconn's Hengyang factory in eastern China receive lower wages and fewer benefits than non-student workers. It said about 20 percent of workers at the factory are student interns, double the legal limit...

"We are urgently investigating these allegations and addressing this with Foxconn at the most senior level," Amazon said in a statement, adding, "We do not tolerate violations of our Supplier Code of Conduct."...

Foxconn acknowledged the issue in a statement Friday, saying it is increasing the monitoring of its internship program with schools "to ensure that, under no circumstances, will interns [be] allowed to work overtime or nights."

"There have been instances in the past where lax oversight on the part of the local management team has allowed this to happen and, while the impacted interns were paid the additional wages associated with these shifts, this is not acceptable and we have taken immediate steps to ensure it will not be repeated," the company said.