Report: Chinese factory violates labor laws, GE policy

GE is planning to close its six Ohio lighting plants.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A new report says a Chinese factory that makes light bulbs for General Electric Co. subjects many of its employees to 64-hour work weeks and toxic mercury used in the production process.

The report by Cleveland-based Policy Matters Ohio accuses Xiamen Topstar Lighting Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Topstar in China and GE, of violating China’s labor laws and GE’s corporate policies.

GE officials said they were surprised by the allegations, because they “contradict our rigorous supplier criteria and findings of our reviews at this site,” said Kim Freeman, a spokeswoman for GE Consumer & Industrial in Louisville, Ky., a subsidiary of Fairfield-based GE.

The company said it could not comment on the report’s validity but it would investigate the claims. A GE safety and labor audit of the factory six months ago met GE’s standards, Freeman said.

Xiamen Topstar, based in Xiamen City, Fujian Province, employs about 6,000 people and makes compact fluorescent light bulbs. A human resources official at Xiamen Topstar said the factory’s production processes do not endanger the health of workers.

Policy Matters Ohio said workers it interviewed last year were exhausted by the long hours and many had no idea they were working with mercury, which can damage the brain, heart, kidneys and other organs of people of all ages.

In addition to the long hours, workers did not get overtime and were denied pay stubs so they didn’t know if their pay was accurate, the group said. Workers were required to forfeit a month’s pay if they quit without permission.

“The report calls on GE to ... to produce energy-efficient light bulbs in a way that does not abuse the workers who make them.” Zach Schiller, a research director at Policy Matters, said the company should maintain a U.S. work force to make some of these products.

GE announced last year that it will step up production of energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs and phase out its incandescent light bulb.

As part of the change, the company announced it would close lighting plants in Brazil, Mexico and the U.S., including six Ohio plants, as demand for the older bulbs has dropped.