Microsoft supplier in China accused of running sweatshop

A major supplier to Microsoft has been accused of forcing teenage workers to labour for 15-hour shifts under "sweatshop" conditions.

The allegations were made by the US-based workers' group, National Labor Committee (NLC), in a report entitled China's Youth Meet Microsoft:  KYE factory in China produces for Microsoft and other U.S. Companies.

The document records that, over the course of a three-year investigation of the KYE factory in Dongguan, China, "unprecedented photos" were smuggled out of the factory.

According to NLC, KYE recruits hundreds (up to 1,000) "work-study" students 16 and 17 years of age, who work 15-hour shifts, six and seven days a week making webcams, mice and other computer peripherals. It claims that some of the workers appear to be just 14 or 15 years old and work typical shifts from 7:45 a.m. to 10:55 p.m.

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