It's clear that Coca-Cola is bringing its destructive policies and products into the huge Chinese market as they relate to labor, human rights, health and environmental concerns.
During summer 2008, the Coke Concerned Student Group (CCSG) investigated five bottling plants of Coca-Cola in various cities, an investigative report was issued in December 2008, titled 'Coca Cola: The world's most valuable brand is evading its social and legal responsibility'. The Chinese press reported in December 2008 that Coke employees are "involved in the most dangerous, intense and tiresome labor, work the longest hours, but receive the lowest wages and face arrears and even cutbacks in their pay." One investigator claimed that Coke violated Chinese labor laws and reported that workers "often worked 12 hours per day for an entire month without a single day off."
Violence in Coca-Cola's Labor Subtracting System
SACOM [Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior] has been supporting the CCSG in their campaign to end the abusive use of dispatch labour or labour sub-contracting system. In December 2008 and May 2009, two investigative reports were published by the CCSG highlighted the labour violations in the Coca-Cola's bottling plants, including:
excessive use of dispatch labour: Coca-Cola reiterates that the beverages industry has a high seasonality; but in some of the plants, like Hangzhou bottling plant, most of the positions are filled by dispatch labour throughout the year;
inadequate protective equipment: No protective equipment, like gloves or earplugs, is provided to workers. At the same time, there is absence of pre-post training for new workers;
unequal treatment: CCSG points out that dispatch workers get a lower wage with longer working hours compared to the regular workers;
overtime: Dispatched labour always have overtime work up to 150 hours in Swire Guangdong Coca-Cola Limited (Huizhou) during summer;
deceptions in contract: Workers are asked to sign a blank contract. On the contract only the expiration date has already been filled in; and
denial of the right to unionize: Even though Coca-Cola claimed that dispatch labour can join the trade union in the factory, none of the dispatch workers displayed any knowledge about their rights to form or join labor unions.
Disappointedly, Coca-Cola did not ever respond to the criticisms of the CCSG. Furthermore, a violent incident broke out in August 2009 when one of the student workers of Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Hangzhou, surnamed Liang or Xiao Liang, demanded wages owed by the labour dispatch company. SACOM called for a public response from Coca-Cola and issued a press release titled "Violence in Coca-Cola's Labor Subcontracting System in China." It was reported:
"On the 12th of August 2009, a labor dispatch company hired by Coca-Cola's designated Hangzhou-based bottling plant was discovered to have threatened two university student-workers who asked for their own and their two other fellow workers' backpay upon their resignation. Xiao Liang, 24, was beaten up by two managers at the labor dispatch company's office, resulting in serious wounds over his left eye, left hand, and right ear. Xiao Xu sent Xiao Liang to the Dongfang Hospital immediately after police arrived on the scene. Xiao Liang was later diagnosed with a ruptured eardrum, resulting in compromised hearing capacity...