The popular Bratz dolls by MGA Entertainment, sure to be under many Christmas trees this year, are made in sweatshop conditions at a Chinese factory before being shipped to U.S., according to a report from the U.S.-based National Labor Committee.
The dolls account for 40 percent of the U.S. fashion doll market, with $3 billion in sales in 2006. The employees who make them, however, are paid 17 cents per doll, which cost approximately $3.01 to produce. The dolls retail for $15.89 and up, the report notes.
The NLC says the 4,000 employees at the Hua Tai 4K Factory in Guangdong Province work up to 94.5 hours a week with the following restrictions:
- They are paid $4.13 a day- They are denied work injury and health insurance, which is a violation of Chinese law
- By taking a sick day, the employee loses 3 days’ wages
- If an employee does not reach their production goal, they continue to work, without being paid, until the goal is met
- Employees cannot take paid time off to get married
-10 employees share a small dorm with metal bunk beds and no shower
- Should a doll break, the employee who broke it is docked 5 hours’ wages
- Employees memorize “cheat sheets” before Wal-Mart auditors arrive, allowing them to answer all inspection questions correctly
The NLC also alleges that the factory plans to fire all employees and rehire them as temporary workers, thus eliminating most of their legal rights. In response, the employees are planning a strike in January 2007.
“Many parents are already concerned about the big doe-eyed, super-sized lipped, scantily-clad, high-heeled and anorexic Bratz dolls being marketed to their very young children. Now we learn that they’re made under sweatshop conditions in China,” said Charles Kernaghan of the NLC.
MGA Entertainment, Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us could not immediately be reached for comment.
In 1996, the NLC made headlines when it brought national attention to the sweatshop conditions under Kathie Lee Gifford’s clothing line. The NLC has also targeted clothing lines of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Sean Combs and Thalia Sodi, and has formed the Workers Rights Consortium with United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) to combat sweatshop use in the manufacturing of collegiate clothing.