First, we hear almost everyday about toxic toys coming from China being added to the recall list, but the Chinese toy horrors don’t end there. Disney is also violating Chinese labour laws, which are not the best to begin with in the first place. The Chinese toy problems go beyond lead in paints to the rights of workers.

According to Breitbart.com,

Workers at a Chinese factory making Disney toys are overworked, underpaid, exposed to dangerous toxins and forced to live in filthy conditions…factory workers complained they were forced to work 28 days a month and up to 15 hours a day.

Staff at Haowei Toys in southern China also are not allowed to take time off during peak seasons, according to the report released by the Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM).

“The conditions at Haowei reflect the failure of the Disney system to monitor and respond effectively to violations of the Disney code of conduct and the workers’ rights the code professes to defend,” the report said.

Staff are paid 2.5 yuan (32 US cents) per hour, 62.5 percent of the legal minimum wage of 4.02 yuan, while overtime premiums are also below the minimum required by law, said the report compiled from interviews with 35 employees.

The study charges that managers fine workers five yuan for toilet breaks that exceed five minutes and 10 yuan for refusing to do overtime work.

How do I explain this to my daughter who covets Disney princess crap? I have tried to shield her from much of the commercialism of childhood, but she knows how to read Disney and it is her dream to go to Disneyland. Why can’t corporate America be socially responsible?