Photo by Graham Cullen

Labor expert Katie Quan was the principal speaker at Mount St. Mary's University's 17th annual symposium on corporate social responsibility, speaking to a capacity crowd about the abysmal working conditions found in China.

EMMITSBURG -- Labor conditions in China are as bad as the media say, or maybe worse, labor expert Katie Quan said Wednesday.

Despite this, workers and human rights activists are struggling for change and businesses -- in and out of China -- can make a difference by adhering to strong labor standards, said Quan, who is also associate chairwoman of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California's Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.

Quan was the principal speaker at Mount St. Mary's University's 17th annual symposium on corporate social responsibility.

She has personal experience with China's workplace practices.

"My perspective is shaped by my experience as a garment worker and union organizer" in China, Quan said.

True change requires that workers have a strong, independent voice in their employment environment, Quan said, speaking to a packed auditorium of students and professors.

With an abundance of cheap labor, China can be a gold mine for American businesses but at some point the question should be whether doing business with China is too cheap, and that can be a conundrum for many, Quan said.

In 1979, China changed from a socialist economy that promoted state-owned business sectors to a market-oriented economy run by foreign investors.

China's businesses employ 115 million migrant workers from the countryside, pay them low wages and require them to work 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

But a low wage is no wage if it is paid late or not at all, Quan said, adding that she knows of cases where workers were not paid until after a building was constructed. She said 13 workers who made parts for Apple iPhones and iPads jumped to their deaths. Money was not the problem. They were super-stressed and working long hours, Quan said.

"One worker was found to have worked a 34-hour shift," Quan said, and terrible working conditions are fused with a lack of accountability by management.

Even though cadmium is banned in the U.S., companies such as Wal-Mart Stores and Kmart are still using the material to make products in China, Quan said.

"Therein lies the conundrum. Do we do right by workers, or take the money and run?" Quan said.

The government clamps down on nongovernmental organizations that speak out, Quan said.

"Labor NGOs are thought of as extremely dangerous because it affects political peace and profits," she said.

No independent unions are allowed that do not affiliate with the All China Federation of Trade Unions, but there is a glimmer of hope, Quan said.

Last year, the workers in a Toyota plant decided to strike for higher wages. They refused to work for three days, to elect leaders or issue demands.

"It was a very smart move, premeditated and planned, and it caught the union off guard," Quan said. "They knew that without auto parts for three days, it would choke the factory."

The union eventually agreed to resolve the strike through negotiations with the workers, a tremendous departure from previous practices, Quan said.

"It shows us that workers will take action whether they are allowed to strike or not, and it also shows that China's institutions are not monolithic," Quan said. "Collective bargaining is legal in China, but it really hasn't been practiced."

As long as China has low-tier workers, it drags down the standard of living for employees all over the world, Quan said.

"If we are able to strategize on a global scale, we'll be able to do things to raise everybody's standard of living," she said. "I'm all for being prosperous and making a profit but when it goes to the extreme, causing people to commit suicide or get sick, something needs to be done."

As a result of the strike, legislation is being crafted to make life easier for workers, Quan said.

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