Labour Rights

June 20, More than 40 people from Hong Kong and Indonesia labour gorups gathered in front of the adidas office in Hong Kong to show solidarity to the workers in China and Indonesia. They are the Chinese workers in disputes with Dongguan Yue Yuen and Guangzhou Dynamic Casting, and the 1300 Indonesia workers from PDK who were unfairly dismissed in 2012. Among these factories, there is one thing in common: they are all producing for the international footwear giant adidas.

Between 5 April and 28 April 2014, workers from Yue Yuen Dongguan factory have gone on strike. Striker size flew up from 1,000 to 50,000 in only few days. Almost all factory workers have joined the strike, including frontline production workers and various ranking management staff. This shows the anger of workers towards government and the company has reached the limit. Reports say the strike expansion to Yue Yuen’s Jiangxi factory too. Until intervention of massive police force which forced the strikers to go back to work at the end of the month, the strike was forced to come to an end.

Today (30 May 2014), labour organizations in Hong Kong stage a demonstration at the Annual General Meeting of Yue Yuen (0551.HK) against the ambiguous arrangement on the compensation of social insurance to the workers.

Since 5 April 2014, workers from Yue Yuen Dongguan factory have gone on strike. Striker size flew up from 1,000 to 50,000 in only few days. Almost all factory workers have joined the strike. This shows the anger of workers towards government and the company has reached the limit. The dispute was triggered by the conspiracybetween the Yue Yuen factory and the local government– The factory did not fully pay social insurance for the workers and the local government officials did not observe this unlawful practice. Workers also discovered the work contracts they are holding are not legally valid. They request the factory to pay back pension and housing provident fundarrear payment, re-sign valid work contract and raise the wage.

On April 5, 2014, several thousand workers, out of 60,000 from Yue Yuen Dongguan, the world's largest maker of athletic shoes, took to the streets and gathered at the highway to protest against the violations of Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Ltd. Yue Yuen, is a Taiwanese giant shoe manufacturer that operates in south China, producing shoes for global brands including Nike, Adidas, Reebok, ASICS, New Balance, Puma, Converse, Salomon and Timberland. According to a news report, Yue Yuen is the largest supplier for Adidas’ production in China, and Adidas has an unescapable responsibility to ensure that Yue Yuen follows the China Laws.

"Compensation for occupational diseases is yet to be fully resolved . Though appreciate to see slightly improvement, we regret to Adidas does "not guarantee all workers free from occupational diseases"

In April 2013,  Chinese Working Women Network (CWWN), Labour Education and Service Network (LESN), Labour Action China (LAC), and Globalization Monitor have submitted a joint report on China's labor rights situation to the United Nations Human Rights Council together.

Yesterday (15 July), labor groups in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan took coordinated actions against Adidas. The Indonesian groups staged their protest three days earlier.

On July 15th, at 10:30 a.m., Globalization Monitor (HK) will conduct a protest across the Taiwan Strait (Hong Kong, Taipei, Guangzhou, Jakarta) in coordination with Taiwanese labor organizations and Mainland Chinese workers victimized by Taiwanese owned Dynamic Precision Ltd. Indonesia PDK workers organized by GSBI will also demonstrate in Jakarta in support of Chinese workers victimized by Taiwanese suppliers to Adidas. We will go to Adidas offices and outlets, putting forth the following demands:

On April 24th, Zhengzhou Foxconn, a 24-year-old male worker jumped to his death in the dormitory, jumping for unknown reasons. Three days later, Ms. Jin, other woman workers in the same Zhengzhou Foxconn, jumped to her death from Fu Xin Apartment at 6 pm on Saturday April 27 and died on the spot.