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Editor's note: A few weeks ago, The National Labor Committee, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that advocates for global workers' rights, broke the story about the sweatshop labor that produces Xbox 360 controllers. What, you didn't read about it? Thomas takes the gaming press to task for largely ignoring this violation of labor laws and human decency. That enthusiast journalists ignore important issues such as this is depressing, indeed. -Rob
Babies are delivered by the stork. Parents have many devices at their disposal to tell their kids where babies come from. These white lies obscure the truth from children about the realities of birth.
The same type of fairy tales do not exist for gaming peripherals, though. Many different countries (with different labor laws than the U.S. -- laws that enable a work condition that is a creature of assimilated sweatshop workers) produce accessories.
Manufacturers like to tell stories similar to the stork about where our game controllers come from, but a strong possibility is that they are products of sweatshop labor, and gamers don’t seem to care.
On April 13, 2010, The National Labor Committee released a report claiming that KYE Systems Corp. employs underage workers in a sweatshop factory. This manufacturing plant produces Microsoft products -- including mice, web cams, and Xbox 360 controllers.
The New York times later reported that government officials found KYE guilty of employing unregistered workers between the ages of 16 and 18 and forcing shifts beyond the maximum amount of monthly work hours of 196. The labor practice of employing teenagers of those ages is legal as long as they are registered.
Nearly all the information I found was from mainstream press outlets -- the video game press barely covered the story. Apparently, damning evidence against Microsoft products made by underage children is not as important as tracking Infinity Ward LinkedIn accounts and questioning the credibility of game journalists.
Final Fantasy 13 coming to Xbox 360 caused Internet meltdowns, blogs dissected Activison’s SEC filing report like an autopsy, and Capcom’s Captivate event owned the entire game press for days. But when it comes to a 35-page report accusing Microsoft of commissioning a Chinese factory employing underage workers in sweatshop labor conditions, it only deserves a paragraph days after the initial allegation.
Developers constantly complain about crunch time and 14-hour work shifts necessary to push out a product; the gaming press constantly echoes their voices. But what about the sweatshop factory employees who work 15-hour shifts to produce 360 controllers just so they can be victim to the podcast topic, “How many controllers have you broken through rage?”
The silent response given by gamers and critics tells me no one cares if their products are made with sweatshop labor.
The accusations
The NLC’s report's validity may be questionable. The organization claims that it smuggled the photos out over a three-year, covert operation to expose KYE. Also, through further investigation from other sources, KYE was not found guilty of employing anyone under the age of 16. Finally, the NLC only provides an import record of Xbox hardware as evidence that the factory produced 360 controllers.
According to the NLC report, workers are between the ages of 14 and 17 and work 15-hour shifts, 6 to 7 days a week. Women are highly preferable because they are easier to control, and because supervisors and security guards often sexually harass them. The wage is 65 cents an hour, which management reduces to 52 cents after taking food into account. Management also bans workers from talking, listening to music, and taking bathroom breaks.
Violation of these rules results in reduced pay and added janitorial duties. Employees live onsite in 14-person dorm rooms outfitted with bunk beds. Think back -- or forward -- to your freshmen-year college dorm room, add 13 people, and live in it. Employees take showers with a sponge out of a bucket. They are forced to work at a rapid pace in order to meet the quota required to meet Microsoft’s needs.
The Six S’s
Management maximizes production through the Six S’s philosophy -- commandments designed to enforce the necessity to continuous labor. I copied this directly from the NLC report:
Phase 1 - Seiri (整理) Sorting: Separate what you need and what you do not. Separate what you rarely use with what you do not use. Set aside the things you rarely use.
Phase 2 - Seiton (整頓) Straighten or Set in Order: Arrange the tools, equipment and parts that you have sorted in an appropriate way.
Phase 3 - Seisō (清掃) Sweeping or Shining or Cleanliness: The work environment must be thoroughly cleaned and sources of pollution or uncleanliness must be stopped.
Phase 4 - Seiketsu (清潔) Standardizing: Sorting, Straightening, and Sweeping must be maintained at the same time.
Phase 5 - Shitsuke (躾) Sustaining the discipline: Create good habits, obey each of the company's regulations, do not violate company discipline.
Phase 6- Safety (安全) Remove potential causers of accidents, eliminate hidden safety problems, maintain normal and safe production.
Microsoft’s response
On April 15, Microsoft responded to the NLC report through their official blog. I decipher their reply into:
We may or may not have known about this. We’re looking into it -- please, please, please, don't pressure us to follow up. This probably doesn't surprise most people and it’s become common practice for American consumers to not care. Look at our other blog posts about all these diverse people enjoying our Microsoft products!
Since this date, the Official Microsoft Blog continues to be silent.
Move along -- nothing to see here
On April 19, Dongguan reported state KYE factories are not guilty of employing under aged workers; however, they are still guilty of violating labor laws.
KYE employs over 300 unregistered workers between the ages of 16 and 18. According to local labor laws, this would only be legal if they were registered and worked a maximum of 196 hours a month, but that was not the case. They were unregistered and worked over 280 hours.
The NLC exaggerated the ages of the workers, but other outlets did not refute the poor working conditions.
The way things are
Be realistic -- many manufactured products consumed in America are likely bred from the blood, sweat, and tears of sweatshop workers.
But when a legitimate accusation against a major video-game player arises, it is worth the scrutiny of the enthusiast press. This story did not deserve to get brushed over, especially when Roger Ebert, Infinity Ward, and Activison receive regular updates. The press demand transparency, and gamers demand the same level of openness from coverage. Full disclosure of the manufacturing process should be included in this pact divulged to the public.
A Santa-Clausian stork does not deliver 500,000-plus units of Nintendo DS systems every month. The most likely scenario is that peripherals come from a factory like KYE, but the truth is that no one knows for certain and no one seems to care.
