One - handed justice
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As work-related injuries become increasingly rampant in China, most of the issues do not involve whether the factory should pay more or not, but whether the injured worker can be compensated at all, said Zhou who has worked on many such cases.
Some workers were satisfied with their compensations. "Unlike some other factories, Elec-Tech compensated us fast, and always do it according to law," another worker who requested anonymity told the Global Times.
Legal representatives from the company even laughed in court, saying the case and the charge were jokes with no legal foundation, Ruan said.
"Instead of spending a lot of money on improving the working environment or training the workers, the company just threw the young workers into the front line of the battlefield. You're lucky if you're not injured. If you are, you will soon be paid off in the much-practiced way of compensation, to throw you couple of thousand yuan, which is nothing compared to their profits," Ruan said. Elec-Tech posted net profits of 49 million yuan in 2009 following a 162 million yuan loss in 2008. While Wal-Mart's earnings rose 3.6 percent in Q2 2010 to $3.59 billion, driven mainly by sales growth in China and Brazil, according to Bloomberg.
"According to the law, there were only two ways to constrain the factory: one is that the rate of social security insurance will rise if a factory has too many injuries, the other is that one could ask the government to inspect the factory's safety level," said Zhou.
Call to Elec-Tech went unanswered by press time.
"If the case succeeds, it would set up a model for injured workers to fight for their rights against the negligent companies. If it fails, it will raise a question concerning litigation, in that there might be a flaw in the legal system," said Lawyer Pang.
Wal-Mart looks in
The Elec-Tech situation also drew the attention of Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, a non-profit Hong Kong-based organization that lobbies companies on labor conditions. Sacom came to Zhuhai to investigate the factory. On August 18 it published a report of Elec-Tech's "rampant labor rights violations" based on interviews with seven injured workers. It also asked Wal-Mart to conduct an inquiry of its supplier.
After Wal-Mart launched its probe, Elec-Tech issued a statement on August 21 that promised improved safety conditions in the workplace and offered additional financial compensation to those disabled by industrial mishaps.
On September 12, Liu Weicheng, regional manger for the Ethical Sourcing Department of Wal-Mart, confirmed Sacom's report to the Global Times. Wal-Mart has stipulated that the repairs on the machines or their replacements. Elec-Tech has suspended using the old machines and invited the Institute for Sustainable Communities, an international non-profit group, to evaluate the factory safety conditions.
