A university student-worker at Coca-Cola’s bottling plant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, was threatened and beaten by the managers of a labour supply company after he sought wages in arrears on behalf of himself and his colleagues, the Hong Kong-based pressure group Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) reported today.
During the incident, which occurred on 12 August, Xiao Liang, 24, was beaten by two managers in the labour supply company’s office, resulting in serious wounds over his left eye, left hand, and right ear. A colleague took him to a local hospital where he was diagnosed with a ruptured eardrum and damaged hearing.
The response of Coca-Cola thus far has been to deny any responsibility for the actions of the labour supply company mangers, and to dismiss the violence as an isolated incident. The case clearly illustrates the limitations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China, where the use of labour supply companies is increasingly widespread. Corporations such as Coca-Cola and its Hangzhou partner, Swire Beverages, outsource labour contracts, not only to reduce costs but also to distance themselves from the labour disputes that subsequently arise with the labour supply company.
SACOM reported that nearly half the employees at the Hangzhou plant were “illegally dispatched.” In other words, they were employed by the labour supply company but worked fulltime at the plant in violation of the Labour Contract Law, Article 66 of which states that supply workers should only fill temporary or supporting positions.
Some labour supply company employees had at worked at Coca-Cola bottling plants in China for as long as ten years, while many others were forced to work excessive overtime, sometimes as much as 300 hours per month, SACOM said.
And contrary to Coca-Cola’s assertion that the beating was an isolated incident, CLB’s preliminary research into workplace violence has shown that it is a serious and widespread problem, with workers far more often being the victims than the perpetrators of violence.