THE BORE

General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: Ichirou on April 17, 2010, 09:21:21 PM

Title: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Ichirou on April 17, 2010, 09:21:21 PM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/7597344/Microsoft-accused-of-using-teenage-slave-labour-to-build-Xboxes-in-China.html
 
:-\

The report by the National Labour Committee, a US advocacy group for the rights of workers used by big corporations, alleged that 16 and 17 year olds were working 15-hour shifts in crowded conditions often without air-conditioning.

Managers at the KYE Systems factory in Dongguan, southern China, were accused of controlling and bullying workers who sleep 14 to a room and "shower" by taking sponge baths from a small plastic bucket of water.

"The factory is very crowded. In one workshop measuring around 105ft by 105ft, there were nearly 1,000 workers.

"In the summer, temperatures can exceed 86 degrees and workers leave their shifts dripping in sweat.
"It is only when the foreign clients show up that management turns on the air conditioning," the report's authors alleged, citing testimony from workers.


"Conditions are so bad and work at the factory so exhausting," one worker was quoted as saying, "that there are not many people who can bear it for more than a year, and almost never past two years. Most workers flee after just six or eight months."

Following the report, the software giant said it was sending a team of independent auditors to the inspect factory, adding that the company already conducted quarterly on-site assessments.

"We have a team of independent auditors en route to the facility to conduct a complete and thorough investigation," said Brian Tobey, who heads manufacturing for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices unit, in a blog post on the company's website.

"If we find that the factory is not adhering to our standards, we will take appropriate action," Mr Tobey said, adding that documentation on worker age required by the company had shown no incidence of child labour.

"Worker overtime has been significantly reduced, and worker compensation is in line with the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition standards for the Dongguan area."
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Kestastrophe on April 17, 2010, 09:32:46 PM
We know who to blame for those shitty d-pads  >:(
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Brehvolution on April 17, 2010, 09:38:06 PM
Isn't most chinese labor slave labor? MS isn't doing anything thousands of other companies are doing.
We know who to blame for those shitty d-pads  >:(

Pools of sweat corroded the contacts inside the controller.
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: WrikaWrek on April 17, 2010, 09:50:23 PM
?

Read these news earlier, on another site, but it was about the company that MS contracted to build shit was doing it. Not MS
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Ichirou on April 17, 2010, 11:20:03 PM
Passing the buck - the Microsoft way.

These aren't third party controllers.  It's MS's responsibility to make sure they're not paying for fucking slave labor.
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Smooth Groove on April 17, 2010, 11:23:09 PM
Hey, at least they got paid.  The Japs fucked over the Chins a lot worse.   
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Joe Molotov on April 18, 2010, 12:02:51 AM
Don't you mean Micro$oft?
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Disposable White Guy on April 18, 2010, 12:41:12 AM
[youtube=560,345]p4_kD1IfjoE[/youtube]

EVERYBODY WORK
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Phoenix Dark on April 18, 2010, 03:36:56 AM
They have to increase their Asian demographics one way or another!
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in Chin
Post by: naff on April 18, 2010, 06:17:13 AM
Quote
"We have a team of independent auditors en route to the facility to conduct a complete and thorough investigation," said Brian Tobey, who heads manufacturing for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices unit, in a blog post on the company's website.

Que the smiley faces, party hats and air conditioning.
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: huckleberry on April 18, 2010, 09:40:43 AM
Same exact thing does Nike, Adidas, Puma, Sony, Gucci etc.

News at 11.


That doesn't excuse it Borys  :(
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Third on April 18, 2010, 12:36:06 PM
Damn, M$ is so evil. But the X360 controller is still the best controller out there. So they must continue with this.
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Ichirou on April 22, 2010, 03:54:34 AM
Holy fuck a large multinational uses sweatshops. :omg

The real question is, do you own things?  Because if you do, I guarantee some of things were made in a sweatshop.

So that makes it suddenly acceptable?
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Ichirou on April 22, 2010, 06:57:35 AM
Sorry, I can't hear you way up here on my high horse.
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Ichirou on April 22, 2010, 07:15:58 AM
I'm not really disagreeing with you at all...It just sucks that a lot of people's reaction to this seems to be "Well, everybody else does it, ho hum."

I doubtlessly own a lot of stuff that's been made in sweatshops...doesn't make it right, and makes me feel like a piece of shit when these stories come to light.  I remember hearing stuff about how iPods are made that made me pretty uneasy about owning one.
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Ichirou on April 22, 2010, 09:34:19 AM
You have such a sick, twisted mind, dude.  I so wouldn't want to be you.
Title: Re: MicroSoft accused of using slave labor to build XBox 360 controllers in China
Post by: Brehvolution on April 22, 2010, 11:13:36 AM
Why do Communists even need to work?

Can't they just sit back and ride on the backs of those who choose to be slaves like American communists?  :smug