The garment industry around the world is renowned for low wages, excessive overtime and poor working conditions. In many cases, even the legal minimum wages set for workers in the apparel industry fail to provide…
On 11 September, the Democratic Republic of Congo announced a ban on mining in the eastern provinces of the DRC. The full consequences are yet difficult to predict. Stock trading will continue, but the price…
Suicide as protest for the new generation of Chinese migrant workers: Foxconn, Global capital, and the state” is the title of an strong-worded, analytical article by Jenny Chan and Pun Ngai, published in the September…
A recent spate of stories focusing on electronics companies with manufacturing operations in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have highlighted poor labour standards and reputational risks relevant to all multinational corporations with subsidiaries and supply…
The past few years, a considerable lobby has come up protesting the trade in minerals produced with child labour or other human rights abuses, especially when minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo are concerned….
Hidden away in an ambitious piece of financial sector reform legislation, the US Congress has passed a law aiming to cut the link between mineral trade and persistent conflict in Eastern DRC. It is a…
On 1-2 December, makeITfair and the Goma-based Pole Institute are organising a round table on the issue of conflict minerals. The aim of this round table is to provide a platform of input sharing between…
Friday 23 July, Foxconn’s Sunguvarchatram plant in Tamil Nadu, South India, was temporarily shut down due to an occupational health incident involving approximately 250 workers. The Tamil Nadu state government ordered the closure of the…
Concerned about alarming reports on heavy metal pollution incidents, Chinese environmental organisations have engaged upon an extensive research project, with a specific focus on IT product manufacture-related heavy metal discharge, especially the battery industry relating…