By Li Hongmei

Mattel, US Barbie doll maker, has been accused of serious labor violations at its supplier factories in China by an American activist group.

According to a report from China Labor Watch, a New York-based non-government organization whose mission is to defend workers' rights in China, Mattel has been found to have engaged in legal and ethical violations at six plants to which the company contracts work. The discoveries were made between April and September this year through a series of worker interviews and undercover investigations.

The report said that Mattel had effectively engaged in "wage theft" valued between US$8 million and US$11 million through failing to pay overtime and provide mandatory insurance, as well as illegal methods aimed at reducing benefits.

"Mattel's factories achieve cost reductions through the degradation of labor conditions," the report said. "Workers at the bottom of the system are forced to bear the brunt of this burden."

Southern China's Dongyao Toy, one of the companies named in the report, has denied any violations. China Labor Watch claimed that the company had failed to pay weekend overtime and recorded excessive overtime hours of up to 100 hours per month.

"The workers who raised these complaints probably have some misunderstanding," said a company official who claims that all necessary social insurance were in place and that salaries were paid according to staff contracts.