Image: Photo of Liu and family arrived to Guangdong.
We recently received the news that Liu's case has been determined by Guangdong Province Work Disease Department as a possible work disease on June 17 th , and is currently in the Guangdong Province Work Disease Prevention Hospital for further medication. Meanwhile, Liu's employer factory ACS was demanded by the Work Disease Department to be responsible for all of Liu's hospitalizing bills. ACS is currently in process of completing the hospitalizing procedures.
Thus, the donation will no longer be necessary. CLW would like to thank the support of all the concerned individuals who offered help to Liu, the donation we currently hold will still be transferred to Liu.
Sincerely,
Li Qiang
Executive Director
Click Here for the PDF version
Dear friends,
Liu Yu Hong, a worker in Shenzhen , China , has contracted Leukemia as a result of excessive, unprotected exposure to hazardous chemicals when working. The factory, Asahi Creative Shenzhen Plastic Products Company Limited (ACS) failed to mention the possible chemical risk of work environment to its workers and refused to provide aid to Liu. She desperately needs your help to obtain the proper treatment. You can donate money to her by sending a check to China Labor Watch, and we will make sure that she receives it. When sending the check, please state that you are interested in donating money to Liu.
Also, CLW investigators observed that there was a Sony OEM-GP approval trademark by the factory's main gate. While it cannot be determined for sure that this factory is a supplier factory for Sony, the evidence seems to suggest this. We hope you will take a minute of your time to call Sony and urge them to ensure that their supplier factories obey the labor laws and respect the rights of their workers.
Image1: Banner posted above the front door states “Congratulates ACT for receiving SONY OEM-GP Certification”
Below is an account by a CLW investigator and an investigative report of Asahi Creative Shenzhen Plastic Products Company Limited (ACS), the company that she worked for.
Story told by a CLW Investigator
May 12th, 2007
We received a call from a worker who we have helped in the past. The worker told us that the local Shajin hospital discovered that his cousin, Liu Yu Hong has Leukemia. The condition is very serious, and she is now being transferred to Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital for further treatment. Although Liu was transferred to a better hospital, she cannot afford a better treatment. According to the doctor, the sickness could possibly be related to work. The worker asked us to head to the hospital to conduct an investigation and to try to convince the factory where Liu had worked at to pay for Liu's treatment.
May 13 th
We arrived in Beijing hospital's blood department in the morning and met with the patient Liu Yu Hong. Liu is currently 20 years of age, from Hunan province, Shengyang City , Heshang District. In June 2003, Liu started working for ACS, a Japanese Corporation invested factory in Shenzhen City , Baoan District. Liu was appointed to work in the silk print workshop. At work, Liu would often have to be in contact with many chemical substances such as paint thinner, Kai You Shui, Xi Wan Yi, etc. (Chinese Pinyin). At the end of last year, Liu begin to not feel well. In March, the factory dismissed Liu from her post. After Labor Day, Liu's condition became worse and after she essentially went to the hospital for a check up on May 7 th , the hospital stated that Liu could be infected with Leukemia and demanded her to stay in the hospital for further treatment. However, due to Liu's financial problem, although her condition worsened; the factory did not arrange the transfer to Beijing Shenzhen Hospital until May 10th.
After various tests, Beijing hospital was convinced that Liu was infected with Leukemia. On May 11th, Liu's condition once again worsened, and she fell into a coma. The hospital immediately sent an emergency notice to Liu's family, asked them to come to the hospital. After the hospital's immediate treatments, Liu was temporarily out of the danger zone. According to the doctor, due to the factory's lack of safety equipments provided, Liu often had to be in contact with many chemical substances directly with her hands. Thus, Liu's work condition was the stimuli of this sickness. The doctor also suggested Liu's family to go to Shenzhen City 's work disease department to apply for a work disease confirmation, and notify them that Liu is currently in a life or death situation.
Image 2: Liu's medical report from Beijing Hospital
The doctor suggested that bone marrow transplant is the most proper cure for this sickness, and the medical fee would be at least $200,000 RMB ($25,974.03 USD). Meanwhile, the hospital demanded Liu's family to pay for the hospitalizing fee because the deposit was used up. Yet, due to Liu's family condition, they could not afford such a huge hospitalizing fee.
Liu's parents are both farmers, and the family's low financial status has forced Liu to work at the age of 16. Liu also has a brother who is two years younger than her, and he is currently working in Fujian . In 2006, Liu's parents spent a great amount of money due to a traffic accident. This time, because of Liu's crisis, Liu's parents came from Hunan in a hurry with couple hundred RMB which was all they had. These couple days, Liu's parents borrowed money from friends in Shenzhen and paid the hospital $5,000 RMB for the hospitalizing fee. On the same day, the factory sent $2,000 RMB to the hospital and stated that it will be deducted from Liu's salary. After communicating with the factory, the factory agreed to schedule a meeting with Liu's family on May 15th.
Image3: Liu lying on the bed waiting for treatment
May 15 th
It is about 8AM. I went to the factory with three of Liu's family members. The factory, however, took us to the guestroom to wait for the meeting. After about 20 minutes, the factory representative still had not come. Meanwhile, Liu's family members in the hospital called and said the hospital is not going to provide any further treatments unless a $20,000 RMB deposit is paid. After the call, we once again told the receptionist to contact the factory representative. After a few minutes, Ms. Yang from the factory's executive department came out to meet us. After we told her the current situation, Ms. Yang said, “The factory has already bought Liu medical insurance. We will not pay any additional fee. You may contact the Social Insurance Department for any medical bill inquiries. As for the work disease issue, it has nothing to do with the factory. Therefore the factory will not pay.”
More detailed information on the insurance that the factory purchased for Liu:
The insurance is the Shenzhen City Labor Medical Insurance, the insurance is a local insurance designed especially for local Shenzhen workers. This type of insurance is only effective in certain districts in Shenzhen; it is invalid in the city. If the sickness is serious, the patient will need to be transferred to other hospitals and pay for the medical fees, then seek for reimbursements from the Social Insurance Department with the receipt.
Due to Liu's special case, we asked the factory to first pay for the $20,000 RMB deposit and promised to pay the factory back after receiving the reimbursement. However, Ms. Yang said, “The factory will only help Liu to reimburse the medical fees that were paid from the Social Insurance Department.”
After the meeting, we went to the local Labor Department office to report the case, hoping that the Labor Department would communicate with the factory and resolve this issue.
Image4: Liu's father (Middle) in the Labor Department office seeking help
After the employees understood the situation, they said that it would be difficult for the department to ask the factory to offer more aid after paying for the worker's insurance. However, the department still contacted the factory and scheduled to meet in the afternoon.
We returned to the Labor Department office around 3PM. After a while, the factory owner came and we had a brief conversation. We returned to the factory with the owner, and Ms. Yang once again came to meet us. Ms. Yang told the factory owner about the meeting in the morning, and he told her, “Report this to boss and try to satisfy their needs.” After the owner left, we try to communicate with Ms. Yang with a small hope that the factory would pay for the medical fees first. Ms. Yang said that she could not give us an answer right now, but she will contact the Social Insurance Department to see how much they can reimburse, and then give us a proper answer. About 5PM, Ms. Yang called and told us that the Social Insurance Department could only reimburse 30 percent of the paid medical fee. Therefore, the factory could only pay $2,000 RMB. I could no longer stand the factory's attitude. I furiously said that the factory has no sense of moral, disregarding its worker's life.
Image5: Hospital Receipt for Liu's treatment
May 16 th
Due to work reasons, I could not handle Liu's case. I gave the contact information of Shenzhen City 's work disease department to Liu's family members, and asked them to seek for further inquiries. However, Liu's parents already lost hope due to Liu's current condition, huge amount of medical fees, and the factory's attitude towards this issue.
May 17 th
Liu's parents told me that they couldn't gather anymore money in Shenzhen. Their current objective was to ask the factory for some money to head back to Hunan and try to find ways to cure Liu. I was opposed to this idea; however they made an agreement with the factory shortly after speaking with me. It was in the afternoon when I received an update on Liu: she had already returned to Hunan with her family after receiving $30,000 RMB from the factory. The factory stated that after this reimbursement, Liu will be responsible for all her medical fees, and the labor contract she signed with the factory will terminate after the agreement, and the factory will no longer be responsible for any of her future situations.
My heart dropped after hearing Liu's decision. I can just imagine what is going to happen to Liu's illness after she returns to Hunan . There is no way that her family can afford her medical treatments.
As people working in the labor organization, assisting workers such as Liu is our objective, and we would do anything in our power to help her. Thus, after analyzing Liu's case, we have essentially decided to conduct a further investigation on the chemical substances used by the factory. After three days and two nights, we have gathered the information of the chemical substance usage in the factory and obtained the materials. We then contacted the Guangdong Province Work Disease Department for chemical testing. After the department investigated the factory, Liu's medical test report was issued to the factory. According to China 's work disease prevention law, the factory is responsible to pay for the workers' medical fee during the process of work disease investigation. However, the factory refused to pay for the medical fees and said the local Social Insurance Department is responsible for these fees. However, the Social Insurance Department stated that according to the regulations, patient must first pay for the medical fees then seek for reimbursement. A week later, there is still no response. On the other hand, Liu is lying on the bed depending on a blood transferring tube and an oxygen tank to maintain her life.
Today I received an urgent letter from Liu in Hunan Xianya Hospital . The $30,000 RMB from the factory was used up. The amount of blood transferred has increased dramatically these few days, and the family is once again having difficulty gathering money. From this letter, she hoped that we can somehow help her.
Due to the ineffectiveness of Shenzhen Labor Social Insurance Department, Liu was unable to seek aid from the hospital first, and then pay for the medical fees. She was required pay for the medical fees and then go to the Social Insurance Department with the hospital receipt in order to seek for reimbursement. However, due to Liu's family's financial situation, they were not able to follow this procedure. The factory could easily afford the amount of medical fees and acquire the money if Liu sought for reimbursement after the procedure. Thus, we hope that the concerned individuals from the international community would take action against such heartless behaviors.
Factory Name: Asahi Creative Shenzhen Plastic Products Company Limited ( Hong Kong company name: Asahi New Tech. Company)
Factory Address: Shenzhen City , Baoan District, Shajin Street , Ganjue Village
Image6: Name of the factory by the main gate
Brief Description
Japanese Corporation invested factory. Factory consists of approximately 700 workers, with a male-female ratio of 1:3. According to the investigation, CLW discovered a Sony OEM-GP approval trademark by the factory's main gate. Thus, the factory could be one of Sony's supplier factories.
Work Hours
ACS's peak season ranges from five to six months. During the peak season, the workers work from 8AM to 11PM. Between these hours, there is only an hour of lunch and dinner break, and no days off on Sundays. During the slow season, the average number of hours worked is about 9.5 hours, with one or two days off per week. According to the workers, they do not have any objections towards the peak season; because that is the only time they have overtime. Without overtime, the base salary is $700 RMB/month (Minimum wage of Shenzhen City ). After rent and other living expenses, the workers barely have any money left.
Wages
ACS offers workers mostly hourly wage, and the amount paid is according to the Chinese and the local labor laws. Regular overtime wage is 1.5 times of the regular hourly wage, off day overtime is twice of the regular hourly wage, and vacation day overtime is three times of the regular hourly wage. According to the workers, the salary including overtime ranges from $1,200 RMB to $2,300 RMB. The factory generally distributes salaries on the 15th, and the case of salary arrear is rare. Workers are satisfied with ACS's pay.
Living Conditions
According to the workers, ACS had a cafeteria. Due to poor conditions of food and sanitation, and the previous workers' strike, the factory decided to cancel the cafeteria. Workers have to go to other places for food, and ACS does not provide any living reimbursements.
To live in the dormitory is optional. Each factory dormitory room houses about 12 workers, and a monthly $60 RMB dormitory fee will be deducted from worker's salary. In addition, a basketball court is installed by the dormitory.
Insurance
The only insurance that ACS offers is the Shenzhen City Labor Medical Insurance. The insurance is a local insurance designed especially for local Shenzhen workers. This type of insurance is only effective in certain districts in Shenzhen; it is invalid in the city. If the sickness is serious, the patient will need to be transferred to other hospitals and pay for the medical fees, then seek for reimbursements from the Social Insurance Department with the receipt. However, such procedure causes much inconvenience.
Work Conditions
According to the workers, ACS frequently uses chemical substances; some departments were required to be in daily contact with chemicals. The factory rarely provides workers with safety equipments, and no work safety trainings were provided, nor was any information on the chemicals used at work. In the recent years, the factory provided health examinations to workers, and there were few cases of work injuries. In addition, factory workers have heard other workers who had Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Leukemia in the past. However, they had no proof if they were work related.
Other
• There's no labor union.
• Below are the results of the chemical testing:
- Paint thinner: toluene, xylene, acetone, and hexanone
- Kai you shui: trimethylcyclohexen-2-one-1
- Xi wan yi: isopropyl alcohol
- Man gan shui: trimethylcyclohexen-2-one-1, about 70 percent of cutyl acetate, about 5 percent of glycol single butyl ether
- Fan bai shui: 10 percent of xylene
Image7: Sample chemicals retrieved from ACS. The chemicals are now being tested at Guangdong Province Work Disease Department
We now urge you to take action and make a donation to Liu and/or write a letter or make a phone call to Sony and tell them how you feel, as a consumer, about the working conditions of their supplier factories. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Li Qiang
Executive Director, China Labor Watch
_______________________________________________________________________
To contact Sony, send a letter to:
Howard Stringer, Chairman/CEO
Sony Electronics Inc.
16450 W. Bernardo Drive
San Diego , CA 92127
Or make a call to (858) 942-4700
You can also contribute by sending donations to China Labor Watch and state that you would like to donate money for Liu's treatment. The address and information on sending donations can be found on the website.
Lastly, you can help Liu and other Chinese workers by forwarding this letter on to your friends.
