A representative surnamed Sun from All-China Federation of Trade Unions told local media that ACFTU would ask Xiamen Topstar Lighting Co. Ltd, a joint venture company of General Electric in Xiamen, China to rectify its work hours and fulfill payment to employees for overtime work.
Sun said ACFTU would also suggest the labor department and law enforcement department issue a punishment to the company for its violation of Chinese labor law. GE says it has already completed an audit of the supplier's facility and found no major problems. Sun said that ACFTU would contact the trade unions of both GE and Xiamen Topstar to further discuss the issue.
U.S. non-governmental organization PMO issued a report last month which said that GE's joint venture company Xiamen Topstar Lighting Co. Ltd was asking Chinese workers to work too many overtime hours each week without paying them for the overtime work. Following PMO's report, Chinese media began to keep track of the GE factory. Some media reported that they found that the workers in the GE factory indeed worked 57-66 hours per week. Some media said there is a surprising gap between the salary GE pays to American workers and Chinese workers. They said that in the Xiamen factory, each worker is paid $184-227 per month, while their American counterparts receive about US$4000 each month.
Days after PMO's report was released, General Electric issued a statement denying all the claims raised by PMO.
