14 DAY TRIAL // We suppose it's human nature to try and cast blame, especially on those in power who, presumably, should have the tools to prevent bad things from happening. Dell is feeling the effects of this.
Then again, the loss in reputation that the company has just suffered pales in comparison to what the workers at some of its Chinese suppliers apparently go through.
Danish nonprofit organization DanWatch worked together with China Labor Watch (CLW) to investigate some factories in China's Guangdong and Jiangsu regions.
Said factories supply PC components to Dell, Asus, HP, Microsoft, and Samsung. DanWatch focused on Dell though, because that's where the Danish government gets its computers.
Apparently, underage workers are being employed, as well as verbally abused and paid well below the Chinese minimum wage for up to 74 hours a week.
And that's not even everything that was found wanting. Apparently, workers are housed in dorms with a single toilet for 55 workers, and one shower for up to 90.
Also, overtime ranges from 48 to 136 hours per month. Considering that many of the workers are students under the age of 18 who live in those on-site dorms, that's more than a bit worrisome.
In short, China-based tech component suppliers are exploiting their factory workers while housing them in squalor.
"When companies compete on supplying computers in the cheapest way possible, and when our public buyers aim for the cheapest wares on the market, a high human cost is paid," Eva Hesse Lundström, DanWatch editor, said in a statement.
"Our research shows that the conditions at Dell's suppliers violate [International Labour Organization] conventions and Chinese labor law as well as Dell's own policy."
Dell said it had already audited three of the sites and that outstanding issues would be investigated. Which, of course, tells us nothing.