GE energy-efficient light bulbs supplier working conditions for workers in violation of labor law, led to the worry of health care. Require workers to work week a supplier of compact fluorescent light bulbs in the supply of General Electric Company 64 hours, the workers are exhausted, suppliers of such practices in violation of labor law. Many workers in a factory in the southern China did not know they produce a product that contains toxic mercury, did not accept how to deal with the possible training of basic knowledge of the risk of accidents. This is the facts disclosed in Cleveland, a nonprofit the Policy Mattershio, Institute today released a research report. The production and sale of compact fluorescent light bulbs in the United States and worldwide is growing rapidly. Energy Act was approved in December last year, the U.S. Congress must give up the traditional incandescent light bulbs, switching to more energy-efficient products. At least the short term, that means for American families, compact fluorescent light bulbs. However, the U.S. has almost no production of such products. Therefore, more and more American consumers buy these products from overseas. The PolicyMatters the Research Director Zach Schiller said: “GE should use its Ecoimagination strategic slogan to produce that effect, radioactive lower product does not violate the labor law to the production of energy-efficient light bulbs. Companies should use American workers to produce some of these products. “Policy Matters, Ohio, to commence in the second half of last year of this survey. The results showed that the Xiamen Topstar Lighting Co., Ltd. Xiamen Topstar GE joint venture production plant in Xiamen, Fujian, in violation of many provisions of the Chinese labor law. Including: time to require workers to work the longest time is longer than the labor law, in 2007 the average monthly working hours to 203.4 hours; does not provide wage records, workers can not know whether they deserve a reward; 6 days per week, working more than eight hours a day, without payment of overtime pay, according to Chinese law, only five days working week. Require workers without permission to undergo will be the punishment of the confiscation of one month wages. These illegal acts in violation of the same corporate policies of the General Electric Company General Electric Company corporate policies and regulations, the company must comply with local laws and regulations, require suppliers to comply with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations on the minimum wage, working hours and overtime pay. Most of those acts in violation of the electronics industry codes of conduct accepted by the electronics industry. The production plant in employment discrimination, because it does not employ workers over the age of 32, but only to recruit workers. This violation of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principlesand Rights at Work, “in the provisions on anti-discrimination provisions. General Electric Company in its own production plant has adopted this requirement. The plant made another despicable act: if a worker is unauthorized to undergo or late, the factory shall be deducted the wages of the workers. For example, a worker was late for work half an hour, and then her day wages shall be deducted. Compact fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury. As we all know, mercury is a toxic substance, mercury vapor may be harmful to human central nervous system, causing serious injury. Compact fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury a small number of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggest that the production plant should open the window and wait for at least 15 minutes before you start cleaning up broken bulbs. However, the the Topstar production factory workers did not see a detailed description of the job hazards in the work contract, there is no security training, and often do not know the basic situation of the plant safety. The majority of workers said they do not know the factory in the use of mercury, do not know how to protect themselves. After knowledge of the characteristics of mercury or mercury, the workers said many plastic barrels in the factory barrel with red paint the words “waste contains mercury”. Those barrels filled with compact fluorescent light bulbs, are usually open to be placed in the factory and sealed. The fingers of the old workers generally deteriorated beyond the point, because they often work in electronic components stabbed. The workers said, whenever shift, they are in deep pain, his legs numb. An old worker, said: “Well, I did more than a year, I felt numb, I have become a working machine.” Other workers have also expressed similar views. General Electric Company has closed its incandescent light bulb manufacturing plant. Last December, it announced the closure of six production plants in Ohio and a production plant in Brazil. Among them, six production plants in Ohio, hired a total of 425 workers. It said that U.S. labor costs are too high, it has been unable to continue to produce energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs in the United States. However, Xiamen Topstar plant survey found that the General Electric Company in China has been able to produce high-performance fluorescent bulbs, because the joint venture failed to comply with the General Electric Company said in its own report on human rights and corporate codes of conduct code of conduct. The report recommended that the General Electric Company to comply with its policies to ensure the lawful and reasonable and does not infringe the production workers health and interests to produce light bulbs. Executive Director of the Environmental Health supervision company of Stuart, JGreenberg said: “We can and should improve product energy efficiency, at the same time for workers to provide good, safe working environment.” The United States recently approved the energy bill, including many that support the U.S. production of energy-efficient lighting bulbs initiatives , including an annual allocation of $ 10 million in research, development and production funding, training funds and other preferential policies. Market demand for compact fluorescent light bulbs is still growing rapidly, all vendors there is still much to expand the production space. General Electric Company has been committed to producing energy-efficient incandescent bulbs, but also did not disclose it to where the production. Schiller said: “the use of existing production equipment, production of these new energy-efficient products that the company fulfill its economic and environmental commitment in the legal conditions.” To fulfill those commitments properly discarded or processing also means that it should be noted that compact fluorescent lamps mercury bulbs and bulb, consumers can not use cheap alternative to replace the bulb. General Electric Company and other lighting bulb suppliers should be required to participate in the recovery and recycling the products they produce infrastructure development. Policy Matters Ohio, a Cleveland, Ohio, a nonprofit research institute. (Translation: three) Original: Conditions violate kindle labor law, The raise healthconcerns at a Chinese supplier of energy-risk group light bulbs toGE A, major supplier of compact fluorescent light bulbs toGeneral Electric Co.. Requires a many to work a 64-hour week thatexhausts workers and violates Chinese labor law (see photo). Many workers at the plant in southern China, which is partlyowned by GE, have no idea they are producing a product containingtoxic mercury, and do not receive training on how to respondto its possible dangers. Those were among the findings ofa study released today by Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofitesearch institute based in Cleveland. Production and salesf compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are growing rapidlyn the United States and world-wide. The energy bill approvedby the US Congress in December mandates the phase-out ofcurrent incandescent light bulbs and their replacement with moreenergy-efficient products. At least for the immediate future inU. S. households, that means CFLs. Yet very few of theseproducts are made in the United States. Thus, US consumersare increasingly going to have to buy products made offshorender conditions that may fall far short of international laborstandards. Tired Topstar worker takes a break “GE shoulduse its Ecoimagination – the slogan for its strategy to produce ore energy-efficient, less emissive products – to produceenergy- efficient light bulbs in a way that does not abuse theworkers who make them, “said Zach Schiller, research directorat Policy Matters.” The company should maintain a US workforceto make some of these products. “Policy Matters Ohio commissionedthe study, which was conducted late last year. It found thatXiamen Topstar Lighting Co. Ltd., a joint venture with Topstarin which GE has a stake, violates numerous provisions of China labor law at its plant in Xiamen, Fujian Province, including: Requiring work hours that are longer than the permittedmaximum average in 2007 of 203.4 hours a month; Providingno pay stubs, so workers can tell if they are beingorrectly paid; Not paying overtime for work in excess of8 hours a day or on the sixth day of work each week, hich under Chinese law is to be a day of rest; Mandatingthat workers who quit without permission forfeit a month wages. These violations of Chinese labor law also infringeE own corporate policies, which call for the company toobey local laws and expect suppliers to “comply with laws and regulations governing minimum wages, hours of service and overtime wages for employees. “(GE 2007 Citizenship Report, p. 62) Most of them also contravene the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct, which many leading electronics companies haveledged to uphold. The plant also discriminates in employment, since it won hire workers over age 32 and hires almostexclusively women workers. This clashes with the anti-discriminationclause in the International Labour Organization Declaration onFundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which GE has adoptedwith respect to its own employees working in China . In anotherabusive practice, the plant confiscates wages if a worker doesnot have approval for missing work or is late to work. Forexample, if a worker is half an hour late, she will befined one day wages. Compact fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury, like other fluorescents, in order to function. Mercury is a well-known toxin, and mercury vapor can causeserious damage to the central nervous system. Though the amountof mercury in a CFL is small, the US Environmental ProtectionAgency recommends opening a window and leaving the room for at least 15 minutes before beginning clean-up of a broken bulb (See http://www. epa. gov / mercury / spills / index. htm # fluorescent). Yet workers at the Topstar plant do not receive “adetailed account of work dangers “as stipulated in their contracts, receive little safety training and often do not know basicfacts about factory safety. The majority of workers interviewedtold researchers that they had no idea that the company wasusing mercury, or how to protect themselves. Told the meaningof the character for mercury, or gong, they said there weremany plastic barrels on which “discarded objects containing gong” was written in red. The barrels were filled with CFLs andoften were open or not properly sealed (see photo). Experiencedworkers end up with swollen fingers from repeatedly pricking themselveswith electronic components they are plugging in. Workers reportedthat when they finish their shifts, they ache all over andtheir legs have gone numb. One veteran worker said, “Ah, after more than a year [here], I am more or less numball over and have become a machine! “Other workers interviewedmade similar comments. GE has been closing down productionof incandescent light bulbs and parts, especially in Ohio, he long-time home of its lighting business and many of itsactories. In October, it announced the closing of six plantsemploying 425 Ohio workers, as well as a plant in Brazil.It has argued that it cannot afford to produce the more energy-efficientCFLs in the United States. Open barrels at the factory.The sticker says in Chinese: ” Discarded objects containing mercury. “However, the investigation of the Xiamen Topstar plantin Xiamen suggests that among the reasons GE can” afford “to produce them in China is because its joint venture is notfollowing the norms of behavior that GE describes in its ownCitizenship Report and its company code of conduct, The Spiritand the Letter. The report recommends that GE follow its ownpolicies, and ensure that its bulbs are made in a way thatdoes not compromise the health and rights of the workers whomake them. “We can and should have the benefits of energyefficiency and good, safe jobs for workers at the same time, “said Stuart J. Greenberg, executive director of EnvironmentalHealth Watch, a Cleveland-based information, assistance and advocacyorganization on a range of environmental health issues. Therecently approved US energy bill contains a number of measuresthat could support US manufacture of energy-efficient lightulbs, including a $ 10 million annual appropriation for research, development and manufacturing; training funds and Buy Americanprovisions that could benefit a US producer. Demand for CFLs is booming, so there is plenty of room for expanded production. GE has promised to make a high-efficiency incandescent bulb, but hasn disclosed details on where it will be made. “Making this or other new energy-efficient products under lawful conditions at its existing plants would show that the economicnd environmental promise of green energy can truly be met, “Schiller said. Meeting that promise also means taking carethat CFLs and the mercury in them are properly disposed of; currently, consumers do not have cheap, ready alternatives toproperly recycle the bulbs. GE and other light-bulb suppliershould be required to participate in development of a recyclinginfrastructure for the products they sell. the Policy Matters Ohio, is a nonprofit research institute based in Cleveland, Ohio. (This article Source: Policy Matters Ohio, website), Policy Matters, Ohio, site key words: GE workers manufacturing plant workers in Ohio Read the full story please visit the financial sector, if you are not the financial sector users, please register.