Corporations earn on the skin of the poor

Welcome to Yue Yuen

The largest manufacturers of sports shoes names are unknown to us as Yue Yuen, Kingmaker Footwear or Feng Tay, industrial groups born in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, but now in effect because multinational companies possess and factories in many countries the Far East.

The biggest of all is Yue Yuen, which belongs to the family Tsai of Taiwan by the company Pou Chen. Yue Yuen, who works for Nike, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance and various other brands in the world, produces 17% of all athletic shoes sold worldwide through 250,000 employees spread across six plants, including four in China, one in Indonesia and one in Vietnam. The larger plant is located in Dongguan, a town close to the Chinese in Hong Kong. Rather than plant should speak of the city in the city, because it spans over several square kilometers. Every Saturday afternoon, when the giant closes for the weekly rest period, 70,000 workers, mostly young women, flock to its paved streets and parks of Yue Yuen Industrial Complex.

Inside there are dormitories and canteens, post offices and telephone, shops and hairdressers. There is also a hospital with 100 beds, a playground, a 300-seat theater and a theater company. Yue Yuen has its own system of water treatment and power plants of its own. Sometimes firefighters are turning to the company to borrow his ladder fire truck that has the longest of the whole province.
The new industrial power of China is powered by one of the largest migrations in human history. The country has 114 million migrants who leave their rural villages to seek work in the cities. Yue Yuen is also populated by immigrants who make up a veritable Babel of languages ​​and dialects. The leadership distributes the staff according to geographical origins, while discarding a priori all those who come from certain provinces because there are prejudices against them. For example, those Henan are considered unfair, while Anhui are deemed to be too clever.

Almost all the leaders of the Yue Yuen are migrants who have started from menial tasks. Are classified in a hierarchy very complicated. There are 13 ranks of managers, foreman by the Chief Executive Officer. There is a canteen for those who oversees the production and another for administrative officials, considered to be of higher rank. Only to senior management is allowed to live in the industrial complex with their families.
The life within the walls of the Yue Yuen is quite turbulent, with thousands of young people who no longer have reference rules. Petty crime is rampant. Organized gangs to smuggle home province of footwear components or rob workers of their salary. Love affairs and relations outside of marriage are common, as are unexpected pregnancies and abortions. Not long ago, a worker committed suicide by a romance gone wrong, while another gave birth prematurely in the bathroom and threw the baby in the toilet.

"There are 70,000 people. E 'a city," says Luke Lee, a senior security officer, "so there are all the typical problems of a city."

But there are also those typical of all Chinese factories. In the early years of settlement, Yue Yuen workers did work until midnight and gave the rest day on an irregular basis. But, towards the end of the '90s, he was urged by some clients such as Nike and Adidas to improve working conditions. So Yue Yuen has reduced the working day to 11 hours and provides free Sunday. He also set up a claims office in the service of workers, improved security measures and abolished the military-style uniforms. But it is not easy to continue along this road, because the multinationals have a contradictory attitude. In words, asking for the respect of fundamental rights, but in fact impose prices and delivery times so tight that leave no margin for wage increases and more human pace of work
Today multinationals grant 30 days for delivery of orders. Three years ago he conceded 60. Ten years ago, 90. Orders are always smaller and close together, because strategists fashion point of small quantities renewed continuously.

In front of each workstation there is a billboard that shows how many seconds should be performed every operation. The workers are timed by supervisors

  The cost of a pair of Nike shoes

Trymun is a 19 year old Indonesian girl who works in a shoe factory. Two years ago he left his village full of optimism. He hoped to earn enough money to send home and keep a nest egg. In fact does not make it even to cover his personal expenses. He manages to make ends meet by sharing a room with nine other companions and doing a lot of overtime. Here is his story: Every day we work from eight until noon, then we break for lunch. The time of the afternoon should go from one to five, but we have to work overtime every day. During the peak season we work until two or three in the morning. Although we are helpless, we have no choice. We can not refuse overtime because our starting salaries are very low. My corresponds to 50 dollars per month, which actually become 43 because the employer holds us $ 7 for registration fees. When I removed the cost of the dormitory, water and electricity, I have left very little to eat. "

The factory where he works Trymun belongs to a South Korean, but the shoes that are intended to produce Nike. Despite half a billion dollars a year in profits, Nike complains: With times like these remain on the market is a constant battle. To win you have to invest in advertising. And so ago. Usually dedication to this entry l11% of the turnover, and not just for television commercials and newspaper ads, but also for sponsorship.
Strange world of ours. In 2003, LeBron James, an American athlete basketball even eighteen years old, he signed a seven-year contract that requires him to wear shirts and shoes with brand Nike in sight. In exchange for receiving $ 90 million. Trymun, which produces the well on which it is built around the castle advertising and commercial work should be 150,000 years to earn the same amount. All are enriched on the work of Trymun, except her. On a pair of shoes in the store pay 70 euro, Trymun only goes half a euro, some longer, some less, depending on the exchange rate with the dollar. Ultimately, the product of Trymun is like potato chips: an asset which is insignificant as an excuse to sell a pack bulky and allow advertisers, entrepreneurs, supermarkets and other pests have their share of income.

Check for yourself.
On the final price of a pair of Nike shoes, the assembly work accounts for 0.4%, the material and other production costs to 9.6%, transport by 5%. The rest are private and public imposts: government taxes 20%, 3% producer's profits, marketing and advertising 8.5%, design 11%, Nike's profits 13.5%, 30% share of the retailer.
Source : www.disinformazione.it