Coltan – a book by Michael Nest
A decade ago no one except geologists had heard of tantalum or ‘coltan’ – an obscure mineral that is an essential ingredient in mobile phones and laptops. Then, in 2000, reports began to leak out…
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Malaysian Bar unanimously supports human rights defender sued by Asahi Kosei
At its 65th Annual General Meeting, the Malaysian Bar unanimously carried a motion in support of human rights defender Charles Hector. Mr Hector is facing legal charges by the Japanese electronics company Asahi Kosei for…
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International workshop on hazardous substances within life cycle of electronic products
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is convening, together with the secretariats of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions, an international workshop to consider issues associated with electrical and electronic products based on a life-cycle…
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Asahi Kosei threatens Japanese unions with libel and business obstruction charges
Japanese labour unions are facing legal charges for supporting the struggle of migrant outsourced workers in Malaysia working for the Japanese electronics company Asahi Kosei. Early this year, using his blog and Twitter, Malaysian human…
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Malaysian human rights defender in court over support for outsourced migrant workers
Last Friday 4 March 2011, Charles Hector, a Malaysian human rights defender, activist, lawyer & blogger, met in court with the Japanese electronics company Asahi Kosei. Mr Hector is being sued by Asahi Kosei for…
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Apple petitioned to take up responsibility for poisoned Chinese electronics workers
In 2009, a number of workers at United Win in Suzhou (China) suffered the effects of hexane poisoning. United Win is a subsidiary of the Taiwanese electronics company Wintek Corporation and a supplier to Apple….
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Apple ignores requests by poisoned workers in China
In 2009 and 2010, reports came out about electronics workers being poisoned by N-hexane in China. This was at United Win, the Suzhou based subsidiary of the Taiwanese company Wintek. United Win produces for Apple….
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From the outside and the inside. Novel strategies to advance worker rights in China
Jenny Chan, co-founder and previous coordinator of the Hong Kong-basedStudents & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), speaks of the challenges of working in China and the innovative strategies SACOM has developed to overcome those difficulties.In…
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Important improvements at chinese electronic factories but pressing issues remain
Four supplier factories of game consoles and MP3 players (supplying to Apple, Microsoft, Motorola, Philips and Sony) have been recently re-examined by makeITfair and made significant improvements. Some important issues remain however: the wage increases…
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GoodElectronics calls upon Asahi Kosei to refrain from legal action and opt for dialogue
In Malaysia a labour dispute has erupted over the treatment of Burmese migrant workers working for Japanese electronics company Asahi Kosei. In support of the Burmese workers threatened with dismissal and deportation, Malaysian and international…