Global Electronics Industry: Poster Child of 21st Century Sweatshops and Despoiler of the Environment?

The electronics industry has the opportunity to lead the way toward a global supply chain without sweatshops, ecological destruction, social dislocations, disease and deepening poverty. If the industry does not rise to the occasion, the “new Nike” will become the 21st century sweatshop poster child that the original Nike was in the 20th century.

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Garrett Brown, MPH, CIH, conducts workplace health and safety inspections for the state of California. The views expressed here are his own and not in any way those of the state of California.

RESOURCES

Selected List of Organizations Working on Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Issues and Labor Rights in the Global Electronics Industry

Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC) (Hong Kong)

Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational Accident Victims (ANROAV) (pan-Asia)

Basel Action Network (United States)

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) (United States)

Electronics Take Back Campaign (United States)

Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) (Brussels)

GoodElectronics (Amsterdam)

MakeITfair (Amsterdam)

Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) (Hong Kong)

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (United States)

SOMO — Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (Amsterdam)

CAMPAIGNS

There are numerous ongoing and evolving public education campaigns about working conditions and labor rights in the global electronics industry. The Web sites of the non-governmental organizations ANROAV, GoodElectronics, MakeITfair and SACOM regularly update the status of campaigns and the release of new reports.

The Web site and weekly updates of Business and Human Rights is the easiest way to keep current on the latest campaigns, reports and statements of the companies involved.

Source: July 2009 — Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network

Selected List of Reports on Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Issues and Labor Rights in the Global Electronics Industry

Configuring Labour Rights; Labour Conditions in the Production of Computer Parts in the Philippines

Buy IT Fair; Guideline for Sustainable Procurement of Computers

Report: Round Table for the Electronics Industry and Civil Society Organizations; Improving Labour Standards in the Global Electronics Industry, Defining Strategies that Work

The Public Price of Success; The Costs of the Nokia Telecom SEZ in Chennai for the Government and Workers

Labour Rights in Global Production Networks; An Analysis of the Apparel and Electronics Sector in Romania

Computer Connections; Supply Chain Policies and Practices of Seven Computer Companies

The EarthECycle Pittsburgh “Recycling” Scam

Out of Control: E-Waste Trade Flows from the EU to Developing Countries

2008 Global Citizenship Report

Playing with Labour Rights: Music and Game Console Manufacturing in China

Waste Without Borders in the EU: Transboundary Shipments of Waste

High Tech Misery in China

Playing with Labor Rights: Music Player and Game Console Manufacturing in China

Toward a Just and Sustainable Solar Energy Industry

2008 Annual Report, Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition

Supplier Responsibility 2009 Progress Report

Genuine Worker Participation: An Indispensable Key to Effective Global OHS

Silenced to Deliver: Mobile Phone Manufacturing in China and the Philippines

Mobile Connections: Supply Chain Responsibility of Five Mobile Phone Companies

Electronic Waste: EPA Needs to Better Control Harmful U.S. Exports through Stronger Enforcement and More Comprehensive Regulation

The Dark Side of Cyberspace, Scholars and Students Against Corporate Misbehavior

High Tech, No Rights? One Year Follow-Up Report on Working Conditions in the Electronics Hardware Sector in China

Looking for Mickey Mouse's Conscience — A Survey of Working Conditions of Disney Supplier Factories in China

Export of Electronics Equipment Waste

Connecting Components, Dividing Communities: Tin Production for Consumer Electronics in the DR Congo and Indonesia

Gender Aspects; Production of Next-Generation Electronics in Poland

Capacitating Electronics: The Corrosive Effects of Platinum and Palladium Mining on Labour Rights and Communities

Powering the Mobile World: Cobalt Production for Batteries in the DR Congo and Zambia

Electronics Multinational and Labour Rights in Mexico, Second Report on Working Conditions in the Mexican Electronics Industry

Source: July 2009 — Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network