[HansTWN]

I have spent the last 20 years traveling around Asia. I visited more than 1000 factories (though not electronics factories). I can tell you that the hype regarding working conditions is way overblown. No, work is no picnic, but standards have improved so much over the last 20 years. All big foreign companies (like Adidas, Nike, Timberland, etc) have exacting standards regarding working conditions, hours, overtime. 5 working days with 8 hours per day, double pay for overtime. 60 hours per week maximum. Believe me, middle and upper management work a lot longer than the workers. They are in the office Saturday, and often even on Sunday. Because of the investment these factories brought so many people in these countries have pulled themselves out of abject poverty and have pretty good lives.

For someone like me who has seen the changes over 2 decades and how the standard of living for the average person (like the workers) has improved, it is absolutely amazing.

Sure, they are still behind western standards. But what would happen if western standards were imposed on all these countries? Don't forget that the standards in some countries (as we can see in Europe these days) are so high that the industries are uncompetitive and the governments go broke spending money they don't have. What these Asian countries have achieved in 20-30 years took 150 years in the west. Were do you find the really appalling working conditions? In the local (not foreign invested factories like Foxconn) that work for the local market. They work 7 days a week and there is absolutely no control over working conditions from the government's or the customers side.

It is very fashionable to cry "these poor exploited workers". But the reality is very different. It is difficult to get workers these days. Pay has doubled and trippled over the last few years. The work ethic has changed. That alone has assured that the factories are competing with each other with favorable working conditions.