Visit To A Chinese Factory10/6/2007
We took a high-speed train from Shenzhen to Dongguang, about 30 minutes away. This trip used to take at least twice as long until the fast train was built this past spring. Virtually all of the coastal cities are now connected to this vast railway network and the high-speed train is bringing them closer together. The sheer speed at which one can move from one economic center to the next has allowed more people to travel back and forth, increasing the efficiency and amount of business that can be done in outlying areas. This is similar to what occurred in the U.S. in the mid 19th Century, when rail barons laid tracks from the east coast cities to the Great Lakes Region and eventually built the transcontinental railroad. After developing textile mills modeled after the factories of the British Industrial Revolution, the infrastructure of canals, rivers, railroads and highways created the foundation for an economy that was unsurpassed – until now. Railroad tracks were laid across the United States, connecting farm towns on the Great Plains to growing Midwestern cities. American manufacturing centers in Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Chicago were linked to ports in New York and Boston. Therefore, Ken and I sped along at 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph), witnessing the familiar changes in the landscape one sees when moving from one urban area to the next. The scene outside my window changed from skyscrapers, to high-end apartments, then to industrial centers and farms before reversing this trend upon approaching the next city. As we got closer to Dongguang, the number of factories that continued to hurtle past me was startling. They seemed to go on forever, and this is one of hundreds of cities in eastern China that have the same characteristics. In addition, more and more rural villages are being converted to industrial centers as land and labor costs rise in the east.
This factory employs 600 workers and is considered small by Chinese standards. There are smaller ones but the larger versions can have ten thousand or more. The government requires that these factories provide dormitories and meals to the workers. This is one of many factors that increase the cost for the factory owners. We have all heard horror stories about forced labor, locking factory workers inside a building with poor safety standards. The few incidents where a fire caused the deaths of workers locked inside created a perception of this industry that eventually caused larger customers like Target to require their factories to be certified under specific safety and labor standards.
Approximately 50% of the workforce is female, a reduction from the 80% that made up this population ten years ago. Like a hundred years ago in the United States, when Francis Lowell built one of the first factories in Lowell, Massachusetts, women This fact contributed to some of the stories of deaths by fire. A decade ago many workers were housed above the factory floor. Thefts occurred when workers sneaked downstairs to raid the shop. Many were men, who also took part in a disproportionate amount of fighting and insubordination. Eventually, the owners took charge of the situation and locked them in the dormitories at night. Therefore, if a fire took place, the workers were trapped. The average workers in these types of factories make approximately US$120 per month. They work 7 days per week, normally 12 hours per day, with 2 Sundays off per month and 3 national holidays per year. Their dorm rooms are usually tiny. I was able to look inside one of them and estimated that they measured approximately 12X20 feet. Each slept 12, with two sets of three bunk beds on opposite sides of their room. Each bunk had a thin bamboo pad atop a piece of plywood for a mattress. Clothes hung across the walls and various bags were stored on the beds. Just like the growing pains the United States went through, gaining rights for labor, women and minority groups, China is going through the same process. Ken mentioned that it is difficult to meet the requirements of certification and also meet the price that American customers demand. He is also struggling with the shortage of labor in the manufacturing industry that is It is true that many people live in poor conditions and China should be held to high standards. However, forcing the companies that provide the jobs to these people out of business will not help the situation either. It is a delicate situation but China is making progress. On the way home, we passed the fields where farmers still use methods from hundreds of years ago. Six hundred million live in the rural areas outside of these cities, doing the same thing. Many of the workers come from these western villages and return 1-2 times per year to bring the money they earned back to their families. After only three weeks of being away from my family, I can only imagine how many sacrifices they are making in order to bring prosperity to the their families, and the rest of China. |
My new friend Ken took me to a factory to take a look under the hood of this economy. The engine running it consists of hundreds of millions of people working in factories that initially started on the east coast, where the Special Economic Zones were set up. This allowed only a portion of China to take part in the success the country has seen in the last 20 years, and not all are reaping a proportionate share of the rewards. High demand for low cost Chinese products that many of us are addicted to caused a speedy expansion of these zones westward, away from the coastal cities. So, like the Chinese factories and the wealth that followed them, we traveled west.
farmers could get their livestock and grains, and miners could get their ore, to the new Manufacturing Core, which could then ship them via the Great Lakes or by rail to the eastern ports that carried the finished goods to the rest of the world. Most of the factory workers initially came from rural areas and worked for low wages in dire conditions, including dormitories built on site. China is doing the same thing, at lightening speed. 
Ken described the details of the factory system, giving me an inside look at the industry. With so much publicity about the recalls on products made in China, from toys with lead paint to dog food with toxic chemicals, I was fortunate to be given such an intimate view of the process. Ken and I went through every part of the factory, one of several he uses to provide products like electronic calculators and pedometers for his customers, the retail outlets where you and I get most of our goods. He walked down the assembly lines and workstations, grabbing products right off the table where the employees were working and patiently explained what they were doing and how it fit within the system. 
have been preferred over men in this industry. The reason, Ken explained, is that men cause too much trouble. These "Lowell Girls" were more docile, and were easier to control.
pushing wages up and allowing workers to demand more things like air conditioning. All of these factors were present when the U.S. and other countries were developing their industries. Eventually the pull from both sides created the labor rights we have today.