Divergent evaluations and proposed measures

Divergent evaluations

The theme of migrant workers made it clear that even uncontroversial data can give rise to very divergent evaluations. Some actors emphasized the new employment opportunities for rural workers; others saw migrant workers primarily as victims of private enterprises. A few migrant workers also looked upon long working hours and high levels of overtime as an opportunity to earn as much money as possible during the term of their contract, which was time-limited.

Proposed measures

• Analysis of suppliers should be extended to take in the (usually) smaller suppliers who never come directly into contact with the end product.
• The hitherto less-than-transparent auditing of supplier firms by brand-name manufacturers should be supplemented with high quality independent certification. In other sectors, China already has over 100 factories certified to SA8000.
• Compliance with social standards by suppliers, and associated cost increases, should not result in the severance of business relationships with notebook manufacturers.
• Even though there is no freedom of trade union organization in China, factories may have internal worker representations, and notebook manufacturers should encourage this.
• Following the example set by the toy industry, the electronics industry should set up independent complaints bodies serving all relevant supply chains.
• A “fairly produced” label should be developed for computers and adopted by brand-name manufacturers.

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