So, when they worked, they needed to wear reading glasses. “There were a lot of female workers at the toy factory and some of them were older. Factories like them because “they are less likely to make trouble and easier to manage” than men, she wrote. She also noted that most of her colleagues were women over the age of 45 who were drawn to the work because they were “poorly educated, well-behaved, obedient, and care more about children and family”. When you’re constantly doing the same thing over and over again, you start to feel dizzy and your vision becomes blurry.” I said that I also felt time was going by very slowly. She wondered why was time going by so slowly.
She wanted to sleep so badly but couldn’t, since our shift wasn’t over yet.
In her diary, the investigator noted: “At 5pm, the worker behind me said she felt so tired that her back was sore. Photographs from the production lines show workers asleep or resting during breaks. Workers were expected to arrive 10 minutes before the start of their shifts many reported feeling excessively tired because of the long hours.
A survey last year put the average Chinese monthly salary at 7,665 yuan.ĭolls being produced at the Wah Tung factory. In low season, workers earned about 2,000 Chinese yuan a month (£228) during peak season, they generally took home about 3,000 yuan. From her own experience and interviews with fellow workers, she found daily overtime varied between two and five hours and that, with weekends included, overtime would sometimes hit 175 hours a month – nearly five times the legal limit of 36 hours. The investigator joined the Sing & Sparkle assembly line for a month during the summer. In the last quarter it helped Disney’s consumer products division to an operating income of £264m on revenue of £880m.īut the investigation found that, when costs were broken down, each of the women on the production line was receiving just 1p for every doll they helped produce.* The doll comes with a mane of deep red hair and a glittery tail that acts like a snow globe. Many online stores have sold out of stock and are awaiting a fresh delivery a few days before Christmas.Īt the peak of production, in late summer, as many as 2,400 of the dolls were rolling off the Wah Tung production line each day. The Princess Sing & Sparkle Disney Ariel doll, selling for £34.99, is made here. At the peak of production, 2,400 of the dolls roll off the Wah Tung production line daily. And for happy, read miserable – from illegally long working hours and exhaustion to wages too low to support a family.Īn investigation published on Thursday by rights groups Solidar Suisse and China Labor Watch, in partnership with the Guardian, found evidence of excessive and illegal overtime, basic pay rates as low as 85p an hour, no holiday or sick pay and high levels of exhaustion among the largely female workforce making Disney toys and products for other international toy companies including Mattel’s Fisher Price brand.ĭisney Princess Sing & Sparkle Ariel doll. For the north pole, read the city of Heyuan. The reality would come as a cruel surprise. This Christmas, tens of thousands of children the world over will excitedly tear the wrapping paper off an Ariel doll – Disney’s Little Mermaid – secure in the knowledge that it was made for them by Santa’s happy elves at the north pole. And she’s made by women paid just 1p for each doll that shimmers off shop shelves.
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