Adidas'S Hard Life For Chinese Workers

The German sports giant Adidas invested 50 million pounds to support the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Its slogan is "nothing is impossible".

But for thousands of Chinese workers who are producing high-end Adidas sports shoes and earn only 11.36 pounds a week, it seems unlikely that fair wages will be negotiated for those factories in Fuzhou, China.

The Sunday times carried out a survey of the wages and working conditions of workers. It was found that Adidas's producers obviously violated China's labor laws, and also against Adidas's own working environment standards.

Workers in the Fuzhou factory accused the management of cheating on workers' wages, discriminating against inexperienced workers and obstructing the establishment of trade unions.

According to the data provided by workers, although China's labor law stipulates that the average working hours per week, including overtime, does not exceed 49 hours, they have to work for more than 70 hours a week, but earn only enough to earn enough living.

The Sunday times survey found that the three Adidas's "long-term partners" factory had a history of strike, all of which were operated by Taiwan companies.

In interviews, workers, administrators and security personnel described the worsening atmosphere and cultural conflict between Chinese workers and Taiwan managers and senior managers of Adidas and Germany.

A pair of Adidas women's sneakers designed by Stella Mccartney sells for 60 to 120 pounds in the UK shopping mall, but the payroll obtained from the Sunday times shows that the basic monthly salary of Adidas factory workers in 2007 is only 570 yuan, or about 40 pounds.

This figure has been confirmed by Adidas, which has now risen to 650 yuan (about 45 pounds) per month, which is in line with the local minimum wage standard promulgated by Fuzhou local government in August.

According to China's labor law, discrimination is illegal and does not accord with Adidas's own regulations.

Adidas said it had raised the issue with manufacturers in 2005, and this situation has been gradually banned in 2006.

But this month, outside the factory door, there is still this scene: a man wants to find a job, but he is required to produce proof material.

The factory acknowledges that most workers receive only the statutory minimum wage, indicating that the factory is aware of the fact that "overtime work is not recorded".

Adidas claims to have been trying to eliminate the "excessive employment" situation; it said it did not find workers being cheated to work overtime; it also said that 13 "well behaved employees" were responsible for checking work records, and they monitored the labor environment of 244 factories in China, which employed about 250 thousand workers.