19 January, 2010Chinese battery producer Gold Peak Industrial Holding Ltd under fire by Chinese and international labour groups for failing to be a decent employer.
CHINA: In its urgent appeal for letters to be sent to Gold Peak, Good Electronics reports on calls for an inquiry into the violence used against workers by security guards at Power Pack, a Gold Peak subsidiary in Huizhou, China during a strike in December.
Non-governmental Chinese labour groups, including Globalization Monitor and the Asia Monitor Resource Centre are also calling on Gold Peak to pay the full hospitalization costs of the workers injured by this violence and to compensate the workers sacked in relation to the incident.
In December 2009 growing dissatisfaction with low wages at the plant resulted in a two-day strike, which turned sour when three workers were locked up and treated badly by the company's security guards. In the course of the strike, workers blocked the gates as well as the main road to the compound.
Four employees of Power Pack were later summoned to the local police station to assist in an investigation into the road blockade. Among the four was Ms Wang Fengping, a 45-year old engineer employed with Gold Peak since 1995. Ms Wang suffers from severe kidney failure, caused by cadmium exposure while working for Gold Peak. Ms Wang was released after being questioned for more than 10 hours on account of her medical condition; the three other workers were kept in detention until January 2, 2010. Following the detention at the police station, Gold Peak has fired Ms Wang.
These recent problems at Power Pack are set against the background of the unresolved issue of the compensation of Gold Peak workers who have been exposed to cadmium. Over the past years, hundreds of workers involved in the manufacturing of cadmium batteries have been diagnosed with cadmium poisoning or excessive cadmium levels in their urine. Till this date, the Gold Peak management and the workers have not been able to reach an agreement over diagnosis methodology and compensation packages.
Gold Peak batteries are used in all types of toys and electronics products.
Click here to join Good Electronics' urgent appeal to Gold Peak to improve its record: http://goodelectronics.org/urgent-appeals/letters/gold-peak/