Guangdong toy labourers regularly work up to 18 hours a day to complete orders for corporations such as McDonald's, Mattel and Disney, an SAR union has found.
The Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee, which announced results of its investigation yesterday, said illegal overtime occurred regularly at 20 factories operated by six out of eight contractors.
Bosses cannot make employees work more than 11 hours a day under mainland laws. Seven SAR toy companies and a South Korean firm - which run the factories in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou and Nan Hoi- were investigated. The largest factories employ up to 25,000 workers.
Committee associate director Eli Chan Ka-wai said the study, carried out between August and October, showed toy manufacturers had to push for longer working hours to meet the corporations' contracts. He singled out McDonald's for criticism. 'We found some workers have to work 14 to 18 hours a day,' he said.
'The longer they work, the longer they are exposed to toxic chemicals and the more likely industrial accidents will happen when they are too tired.
'Of the four main corporations, the order-placing system of McDonald's is the worst. Despite the report we published last year, we see no improvement made by the burger giant.'
In August last year, the committee claimed toys sold with McDonald's meals were made by child labourers working 16 hours a day and earning 1.5 yuan (HK$1.40) an hour.