The report describes living and working conditions at the Hantai Shoe factory in Shenzhen City, China, a Walmart supplier

China Labor Watch

English

DigitalCommons@ILR

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Domination of World’s Leading Retailer 
Wal-Mart, “Save Money, Live better”; Workers’ nightmare 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hantai Shoe Production Ltd. 
 
Basic Facts 
• Factory Name: Hantai Shoe 
Production Ltd. 
• Address: Songgan Town, 
Dongfanwu Gan Industrial District, 
Bao’an District, Shenzhen City, 
Guangdong Province (中国广东省深圳
市宝安区松岗镇东方雾岗工业区) 
• Contact Number: 0086 755 
29712345 
• Legal Person: Zheng Li, He 
• Number of Workers: 5,000 with a 
male to female ratio of 4:6 
• Product: Shoes 
• Primary client: Wal-Mart 
 
In 2007, Hantai relocated from Fuyong Town to its current location. According to workers, at 
 least 80 percent of the factory’s production is for Wal-Mart. 
Hiring Practice and Contract 
A contract is offered to sign immediately after employment, and workers are able to retain a copy. 
The format of the contract agreement is issued by Bao’an District’s local labor bureau, and the 
details include: 
1. Contract duration: All Hantai workers’ contracts last one year, with a one month probationary 
period for new workers. 
2. Work post details and location: Regarding this subject, Hantai asks workers to write, “I will 
work accordingly to employer’s arrangement and adjustment,” thus causing workers to be 
uncertain of their specific role in the factory. 
3. Work hours and rest days: The agreement requires workers’ regular work hours to consist of 
eight hours a day, with each work week not exceeding 40 regular work hours, and there is at least 
one rest day a week. Adequate overtime pay is required when overtime takes place. Moreover, 
workers have the legal rights to marriage, maternal, and mourning periods, though it is not 
confirmed whether these off days are paid.  
4. Wage: The agreement states that the monthly base wage is 750 RMB, thus 34.48 RMB per day 
under the legal work day calculation of 21.75 days. Though the agreed wage distribution date is on 
the 7
th
 of each month, Hantai asks workers to add, “I agree to extend the wage distribution date to 
the 12
th
 of each month.” Under Chinese labor law, with the exception of special circumstance 
approved by the workers’ representatives or the workers’ union, the employer is responsible for 
paying its workers by the 7
th
 of each month. 
5. Insurance and Benefits: The agreement states that Hantai will provide workers pension, medical 
and work injury insurance. 
6. Other: In the agreement, Hantai states, “quitting without employer’s consent leads to a fine 
equivalent to worker’s one month wage,” and “During the busy period, I agree to let my employer 
arrange overtime accordingly,” and has workers sign on the bottom. Such information can be 
described as when a worker’s resignation request is rejected by Hantai management, not only he 
or she would need to give up the right to receive wages owed by the factory, he or she would need 
to pay Hantai a fine equivalent to one month wage. With regards to overtime, Hantai’s intention is 
questionable, since the length of overtime is not specified.  
  
 
Image: Applicants waiting to 
be interviewed 
Image: Worker ID acquired from 
a worker 
  
 
 
 
Work Hours 
Work Schedule  
     First Shift      Second Shift 
Morning  7:40AM ~ 11:40PM 
Break    11:40PM ~ 1:10PM 
Afternoon  1:10PM ~ 5:10PM 
Overtime   6:20PM ~ 
Morning 8:00AM ~ 12:00PM 
Break   12:00PM ~ 1:30PM 
Afternoon 1:30PM ~ 5:30PM 
Overtime 6:20PM ~ 
 
At Hantai, there are five work days a week and eight regular work hours each day. In terms of 
overtime, workers generally have to work until 11PM. However, Hantai only calculates the 
overtime until 22:50PM, and in addition, it requires workers to be begin working ten minutes 
before the scheduled work hours. Workers thus work about 40 minutes without adequate 
compensation. Workers can make a request to the supervisor to not work overtime, but the request 
is generally rejected. Should a worker not work overtime without management permission, Hantai 
gives that worker a warning or gives the worker no overtime for that month, dramatically 
Image: Hantai interviewing 
workers 
 decreasing the worker’s income. 
Workers enjoy off days on weekends and legally required holidays.  
Wage, Insurance and Benefits 
Besides textile workers, workers are not required to pay a deposit upon employment. Textile 
workers are required to pay a 50 RMB deposit before employment to cover any possible damage 
the worker may cause at work. If a worker causes any damage or loss of any accessories on the 
textile machines at work post, Hantai will deduct the cost of damage or loss from the 50 RMB 
deposit. As for other posts, if workers damage or lose equipment, they will be responsible to pay 
for a new one. 
 
 
 
 
 
Although the local law requires employers to provide work injury, medical insurance and 
pension to employees, according to the pay stub acquired from workers, Hantai only offers 
medical insurance. On the pay stub, 4 RMB/Month is listed under the deduction category.. Since 
workers are not financially responsible for work injury insurance, it is not certain whether the 
factory purchases such insurance. In terms of pension, because it is optional and requires payment 
from workers, most workers do not apply. 
Living and Canteen Conditions 
There are four canteens installed on site, one is for managers and the other three are for 
workers. Each workers’ canteen has the capacity to accommodate 600 people, and each has ten 
drains and two windows for meal distribution. Since there are only two windows, workers usually 
have to wait about 20 minutes in order to get the food. 
The canteen provides three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast consists of buns, 
noodles, congee and etc, , and workers have the option of choosing one item. Lunch and dinner 
consist of beans, bean sprouts, cabbage, carrots, pork skin and bones and etc. Three meals cost 6 
RMB per day, and each month workers pay about 180 RMB. According to factory regulation, only 
 workers who live offsite can choose not to dine in the factory canteen, though workers who wish 
to live offsite need to be married and provide a copy of the marriage certificate. In other words, all 
workers living onsite are required to pay the 180 RMB meal fee each month. 
According to workers, factory canteens have poor sanitation. One can often see leftovers and 
waste water on the floor, and canteen workers usually don’t wear gloves or masks when 
distributing food. The color of rice is yellow and has an indescribable smell, and in the water 
where vegetable are boiled, one can often find sand. In addition, all interviewed workers 
complained about the small quantity of food. 
Due to canteen’s small size, many workers do not have a place to sit, and many of them have to 
stand while eating. Although a ventilation system is installed in the canteens, the air inside the 
building remains stuffy.  
There are eight dormitory buildings installed onsite, with each building consisting of five floors, 
and each floor consisting of approximately 16 rooms. While most rooms house eight workers, 
there are a few rooms that house ten. In each room there is an independent shower room, restroom 
and balcony. Since no electrical board is installed in the room, workers would have to recharge 
batteries in a room that is solely for the purpose of battery charging. Theft occurs frequently in the 
dormitory due to lack of security. In addition, workers are financially responsible for the 
dormitory’s cleaning equipment. 
Under such condition, Hantai charges workers 65 RMB per month. 
 
 
 
 
 Images: Hantai’s dormitory and canteen conditions 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Work Conditions 
A total of four work buildings are built on site, each building consisting of three stories. There is a  
total of 12 workshops for textiles, shaping, molding, bottom processing, processing, cutting and 
 etc. The sewing department consists of approximately 1,200 workers, and there are about 1,000 in 
molding and 600 in processing. All three departments have a night shift and the number of 
workers above is the number of workers in the day shift. There are 600 workers in cutting and 
bottom processing departments.  
In order to reach production deadlines and meet clients’ needs, Hantai sets quotas for each 
production line. For instance, Hantai requires a production line of 130 workers to produce 500 
pairs of Wal-Mart children shoes every hour. If the quota is not reached, workers are asked to 
work overtime without overtime premium. In the past, Hantai arranged a post for shoelace tracing. 
Since the factory calculates wages by the workshop operating hours instead of individual hours, it 
recently suspended the post and requires all workers to trace shoelaces for thirty minutes three 
times a week without overtime pay. 
Moreover, many workers, due to their posts on production lines, are not allowed to use the 
bathroom or drink water during operation hours.  
At Hantai, it is extremely difficult for workers to ask for sick days. Requesting for a sick day 
requires the medical statement from the hospital in advance. However, it is an issue because 
workers are not allowed to go to the hospital for treatment without Hantai management’s 
permission. 
Work Safety  
Upon recruitment, workers are required to participate in a half hour safety training session. 
The training is presented in video format.  
Factory machinery is checked and maintained occasionally, and a technician begins 
maintenance only when a problem occurs. Hantai distributes safety equipment such as cotton 
gloves and disposable masks to workers depending on work post necessity. Though fans are 
installed in each workshop, workers often complain about the high temperature at work. 
Many hidden risks exist at the workshops in Hantai. For instance, workers who are required to use 
glue at work can often smell the stinging reek and experience discomfort in their lungs. Due to 
lack of training, workers are unaware of the glue’s chemical composition or possible risk. In 
addition, work injury occurs frequently, especially at workshops with shaping compressors. 
Because of long work hours, workers often become uncoordinated and injure their hands when 
operating such compressors.  
There are two emergency exits in each workshop, though the exits’ hallways are often stacked 
with different objects, creating an evacuation concern. 
First aid boxes are available in workshops, and workers are able to receive aid for minor injuries. 
An onsite clinic also provides free care to workers for work related injuries.  
Other Conditions 
Hantai management punishes workers who come to work late in different ways such as 
withholding overtime work for one week or physical punishment involving receiving a lecture 
while standing. If mistake is made at work, one could face physical violence. 
 Security guards conduct body searches. Bringing cigarettes or lighters to work is prohibited at 
Hantai, and if either object is found, one will be fined 100 RMB and fired. 
Security guards often attack workers physically at the workshop, canteen, dormitory and etc. On 
April 16
th
, security guards physically abused an applicant coming for an interview for an unknown 
reason. The police was not called until after the applicant was lying on the ground though the 
result was unknown. 
While two complaint boxes are installed, at a canteen and the office entrance, workers expressed 
that they are useless. 
A union is established at Hantai, the union chair is a Taiwanese manager. However, there is no 
workers’ committee, workers’ representatives are not elected by workers, and the union has never 
held any events or protected workers’ rights. According to workers, the union is merely to pass the 
clients’ audits.  
On April 21
st
, the factory posted a list of Wal-Mart regulations onsite because it was told that 
Wal-Mart will be conducting an audit that day.  
 
 


Domination of World’s Leading Retailer- Wal-Mart, “Save Money, Live better”; Workers’ nightmare

The report describes living and working conditions at the Hantai Shoe factory in Shenzhen City, China, a Walmart supplier.CLW_Walmart_Workers.pdf: 142 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

eCommons (Cornell Univ.)

https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1499&amp;context=globaldocs

Domination of World’s Leading Retailer- Wal-Mart, “Save Money, Live better”; Workers’ nightmare

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

DigitalCommons@ILR

eCommons (Cornell Univ.)