CHINA / TEXTILE : New report from www.playfair2008.org

A new report from www.playfair2008.org about the working conditions in China in the sports & textile industry is now available online.

Web : http://www.playfair2008.org

Snow storms = Late deliveries ?

The heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures across China for the past week have ravaged power supplies and hit millions of people trying to get home for the Lunar New Year festival, the nation's most important holiday, but it also disrupted many factories production schedule (among all industries), which could lead to late pre-Chinese new year deliveries.

For example, the fierce snow storms in China have disrupted Japanese automakers' production at their joint venture factories there owing to a lack of sufficient parts and workers.

• Toyota Motor Corp. stopped the night shift at a joint venture factory in Guangzhou due to delayed arrival of parts.
  
• Honda Motor Co., which shut its joint venture factory in Guangzhou on Tuesday and another one in Hubei on Wednesday because paint did not arrive on time.
• Nissan Motor Co. also closed its joint venture factories in Guangdong and Hubei provinces on Monday and Tuesday.Mazda Motor Corp. meanwhile shut its joint venture factory in Nanjing for three days from Monday as the city gave priority for natural gas supplies to homes, discouraging industrial use.

"We were hearing that some workers were unable to come to work because of heavy snow. We are continuing to review the situation," she said.

MATTEL : New social audit released for 4 Mattel factories

At Mattel's request, The International Center for Corporate Accountability (ICCA) just release the results of their audit of 4 Mattel-owned or Mattel-operated factories in China. The audits have been paid and ordered by Mattel.

The audit document can be downloaded here.
Mattel's remarks after the audit can be downloaded here.
The Playthings magazine article.