The difficulty of determining the degree to which multinationals are
responsible for what happens in their supply chains has been
highlighted by a Dutch campaign group’s accusations against two
computer companies.
A study by the Amsterdam-based non-profit organization Somo of nine
factories in China and the Philippines concluded that computer
companies Fujitsu Siemens Computers and Acer had a ‘myopic’ approach to
the employment practices of their suppliers. The investigations,
part-funded by the Dutch foreign ministry, revealed evidence of working
weeks of up to 84 hours, low wages and poorly compensated overtime.
According to Somo, workers in the Philippines and China were dissuaded
from unionizing by the factory’s management, and staff complained of
health problems from handling chemicals.
Taiwan-based Acer says it only indirectly sources components produced
in the factories investigated and exerts no management control over the
owners. Two of the facilities are controlled by a former Acer
subsidiary known as Wistron Corporation. In a formal letter to Somo,
Acer claims that the ‘case studies bear no direct relationship’ to the
company.
Fujitsu Siemens Computers told EP the company was ‘taking the
allegations seriously and is in correspondence with Somo’. Fujitsu
Siemens Computers suppliers in the Philippines are directly owned by
Fujitsu, one of the information technology provider’s two parent
companies, but it does not own any of the three Chinese factories
analysed in the Somo report – G-Tech Computers, Delta and Hua Tong
Computers.
