Date of publication: December 14, 2007
Source: Mother Jones
Author: Celia Perry
Just in time for the holidays, teenage whistleblowers expose the factory where kids make tree-trimmings on the cheap.
Six months ago, they were just kids hoping to make some extra dough at a summer job. Now this group of fearless Chinese high school students finds itself up against the largest retailer in the world—Wal-Mart. With the help of the National Labor Committee—the American outfit famed for shaming Kathy Lee Gifford for her line's exploitative labor practices—the teenagers have brought to light yet another scandal with big implications. Turns out the Guangzhou Huanya ornaments factory in Guangdong, where the high school students worked, employs children as young as 12, who are forced to work 15 hour days, 7 days a week to make Wal-Mart's Christmas ornaments in time for the holiday season. It might come as no surprise that the wages paid by the big box behemoth's manufacturers are paltry, but these kids earn only half of China's minimum wage—just 26 cents an hour...