Hewlett Packard, has been left with egg on their face after it was discovered that a factory in Sydney that is linked to the giant Foxconn Corporation in China was using what has been described as “slave labour” to pack HP hardware for Government contracts.According to Fairfax Media the company forced workers to wait until the night before to find out whether they had work the next day, they then subjected them to poor working conditions according to investigations. Last year Foxconn came under intense investigation after 13 workers in China attempted suicide at its plant in Shenzhen.
After intervention by HP the company has agreed to offer their staff permanent contracts.
The entire workforce is made up of casual employees engaged by an outside labour hire company to assemble and pack hundreds of Hewlett-Packard computers, which then go to dozens of organisations including the Department of Defence, NSW Fire Brigades and banks.
Fairfax said that when the workers arrived at the factory they were often told they would only be working for four hours – barely enough to cover the cost of their travel.
But Foxteq and labour hire company Resco – which has just taken over the previous holder of the Foxteq contract, Weststaff – have reached an agreement with the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.
Foxteq workers will now vote on an agreement that offers them permanent full-time or part time status, improved working conditions, and the ability to elect union delegates.
HP also use Foxconn to manufacture several HP products.
