Disney probes China labour claims

Disney says it is taking the claims "very seriously"

US media giant Walt Disney has said it will investigate claims that staff at factories in China making books for the firm are working in unsafe conditions.

Campaign group the National Labor Committee said factory staff in China's Shenzhen province worked up to 13-hour days for less than the minimum wage.

It said workers at the Hung Hing printing factory struggled in stifling and dangerous conditions.

Disney said it was taking the claims by the US organisation "very seriously".

It said it had asked Verite, a non-profit making social auditing and research group, to begin an investigation into the claims which come a month before the official opening of its Hong Kong Disneyland theme park.

Industrial accidents

The National Labor Committee said workers at the factory in Shenzhen often fainted from heat exhaustion, while female staff were denied maternity rights.

It said it had obtained footage of working conditions at the factory from human rights group Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour.

In a report by the Hong-based group of university students and academics, researchers said they had spoken to 120 workers in factories across southern China.

The report said staff were reputedly paid 2.70 yuan (33 US cents; 11 pence) per hour, instead of the regional legal minimum of 3.33 yuan.

The Reuters news agency reported that one print factory producing books for Disney has been the scene of regular industrial accidents, in which workers had lost their fingers and palms.

"Disney has its own code of conduct but these manufacturers may not be telling the truth," the Hong Kong group's coordinator Billy Hung told Reuters. "These practices must stop, especially the industrial accidents."

Responding to the claims, Disney said it planned to launch a full investigation.

"Disney and its licensees will work closely with Verite to ensure a thorough investigation of these claims and take the appropriate actions to remediate violations found," the company said.