How Bristol research confronted worker exploitation in electronics manufacturing
Research by Professor Rutvica Andrijasevic
Electronics manufacturing has a reputation for poor working conditions, this was why trade unions and NGOs were so concerned when firms opened factories in central and eastern European countries.
Among the companies to expand into Europe was Foxconn, the world’s biggest consumer electronics manufacturer. For Andrijasevic, whose research focuses on migrant workers, it was hugely important to explore the employment conditions at Foxconn’s new plants.
Together with colleagues, Andrijasevic travelled to Czechia to investigate employment practices at two Foxconn factories. They undertook an extensive series of interviews with 23 nationalities of factory workers employed by temporary work agencies.
The study provided the first data on employment conditions in Asian electronics’ plants in Europe. Despite labour regulations, it emerged that the temporary migrant workers were subject to exploitative working and living conditions by the temporary work agencies.
Non-payment of wages, illicit deductions from pay, and deception over hours and conditions of work by were just some of the issues revealed by the interviews. Female workers who fell pregnant were illegally dismissed and risked deportation to their home country. Workers faced the risk of homelessness due to the tied sub-standard accommodation.
The study caught the attention of Electronics Watch, a leading third sector organization that helps public sector buyers to purchase ICT hardware from firms that comply fully with domestic and international labour rights.
A major turning point in Electronics Watch’s campaign to improve conditions for Foxconn’s workers in Czechia came in 2017 when Hewlett Packard conducted a systematic external audit of the plants that assessed working conditions including, for the first time, those for the temporary agency workers. Their audit agreed that living conditions for the 5,000-6,000 tenants were sub-standard.
The audit prompted positive changes, including better safety at work and access to health and schooling services. Living conditions in one of the dormitories also improved. Andrijasevic also ensured that pregnant women were given more support through the development of a website and leaflet offering information.
An important boost to workers’ rights came in 2021 when Electronics Watch and the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), entered into a formal agreement to address issues with working conditions throughout the global electronics supply chains of RBA. This significant move was instigated by the findings of Hewlett Packard’s 2017 audit of Foxconn’s Czech plants.
For Andrijasevic, the conditions at the Czech plants are symptomatic of wider, systemic issues in manufacturing. The effects of dormitories on workers’ private lives are something that Andrijasevic is exploring in follow-on research. “What has been achieved at Foxconn’s Czech plants through coordinated efforts and hard work is fantastic. I just hope that this can be replicated more widely.”