Production of toys for McDonald's at a Shenzhen factory has been halted in the wake of a Sunday Morning Post investigation which found children as young as 14 were working there.
Simon Marketing, the fast-food chain's supplier, said it had cut ties with City Toys, which operates the factory in Shajing. The company said that while independent checks had found no evidence of child workers, production was being stopped because of other problems. 'The audit revealed certain violations of the code of conduct for suppliers adopted by McDonald's and Simon Marketing, including incomplete employment records. As a result, Simon Marketing has halted all current and future production of McDonald's toys at City Toys,' a statement from Simon Marketing said.
The investigation was launched after the Post revealed on August 27 that children as young as 14 were working 16 hours a day for 1.50 yuan (HK$1.40) an hour. They were making Snoopy, Winnie the Pooh, Hello Kitty and other toys sold with McDonald's meals in the SAR and at branches of the fast-food chain around the world. City Toys is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Pleasure Tech Holdings.
McDonald's said last night that the decision to halt production was the 'right thing to do'.
'The suppliers who work on our business know that McDonald's will not tolerate violations of our code of conduct,' said a statement from the company's Illinois headquarters. 'Severing business ties is a last resort, and we do not take it lightly. However, in the case of City Toys, the lack of key documentation and other findings called for strong action.'
McDonald's said the problems found by the audit check included violations of wages and working hours, the full extent of which could not be discovered because of inadequate record-keeping. There were also problems with lack of posting of notices on workers' rights, insufficient training and inadequate lighting, although these could have been addressed by remedial action. But more than 500 face-to-face interviews had failed to reveal evidence of child labour.