THE WORLD'S SWEATSHOP: THE ETCH A SKETCH CONNECTION

By JOSEPH KAHN

SHENZHEN, China — Workers at Kin Ki Industrial, a leading Chinese toy maker, make a decent salary, rarely work nights or weekends and often "hang out along the street, play Ping-Pong and watch TV."

They all have work contracts, pensions and medical benefits. The factory canteen offers tasty food. The dormitories are comfortable.

By Rob Barry

A new "Union Made" area in the UConn Co-op opened April 13 after several months of negotiations between the Coalition for a Sweat Free UConn (CSFU) and Co-op management. Patrons are guaranteed that any Union Made merchandise purchased has been manufactured under fair labor conditions as laid out by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

"This is obviously an issue of interest to the students," said William Simpson, president and general manager of the Co-op. "We want to be in line with the sensibilities of the student body."

By Julhas Alam

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) - A nine-story garment factory collapsed after a boiler exploded early Monday, killing at least four people and trapping at least 200 others in the rubble, police and rescue workers said.

At least 300 people - many of them women - were in the sweater-making factory at the time of the disaster in this industrial town about 20 miles northwest of the capital, Dhaka, police said.

By Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent

They are the global brands that have raked in multimillion-pound profits on the back of sweatshop labour in developing countries.

But after a decade of denying any wrongdoing, companies such as Nike and Gap are now admitting that their workers have been exploited and abused, and have pledged to improve the conditions of the millions of people who are paid a few pence a day to make their top-selling goods.

By Lauren Foster and Alexandra Harney

Factory managers in China are becoming increasingly sophisticated at

falsifying worker time cards and payroll documents to disguise

irregularities including underpayment, excessive hours and inadequate health

and safety provision. Auditors estimate that more than half of factories

they see in China are forging some of their records - meaning that many of

the international companies that source from China are learning less about

the actual working conditions in the factories they use, even as they step