Treatment of workforce and customers edit
A U.S. Army Strategic Studies Institute report on Argentina published in September 2007 describes Huawei as "known to bribe and trap clients". The report further details unfair business practices, such as customers framed by "full-paid trips" to China and monetary "presents" to be offered and later used by Huawei as "a form of extortion".[1]
According to a Wikileaks cable, in 2006, Michael Joseph, then-CEO of Safaricom Ltd, allegedly struggled to cancel a contract with Huawei due to poor after-sales experience, following which he received pressure from the Kenyan government to reinstate the contract.[2] When questioned regarding this incident, Joseph replied, “It [the cable] is not a reflection of the truth as evidenced by Safaricom being a major purchaser of Huawei products including all 3G, switching and the recent OCS billing system upgraded over the weekend.”[3] According to the Wikileaks cable, Telkom Kenya's CEO Sammy Kirui stated, "the Chinese always do well in government contracts".[4]
In May 2010, it was reported in the Times of India, that security agencies in India became suspicious of Chinese Huawei employees after learning that Indian employees allegedly did not have access to part of Huawei's Bangalore research and development (R&D) office building.[5] Huawei responded that the company employs over 2,000 Indian engineers and just 30 Chinese engineers in the R&D center in Bangalore, and "both Indian and Chinese staff have equal access rights to all our information assets and facilities".[6] According to the Times of India, the intelligence agencies also noted that Chinese employees of Huawei had extended their stay in Bangalore for many months.[5] Huawei stated that many of these employees were on one-and-a-half year international assignments to serve as a technical bridge between in-market teams and China, and that "all the Chinese employees had valid visas and did not overstay".[7]
In October 2007, 7,000 Huawei employees resigned and were then rehired on short-term contracts, therefore apparently avoiding the unlimited contract provisions of China's new Labour Contract Law. The company denied it was exploiting loopholes in the law, while the move was condemned by local government and trade unions.[8][9]
Huawei's treatment of its workforce in Guangdong Province, Southern China also triggered a media outcry after a 25 year-old software engineer, Hu Xinyu, died in May 2006 from what is believed to have been "extreme fatigue caused by overwork", according to a report by CBC News. The cause of death listed by the hospital was bacterial encephalitis.[10][11]
In its 2010 Corporate Social Responsibility report, Huawei highlighted the importance of employee health and safety. In 2010, Huawei provided annual health checks to all full-time employees and performed 3, 200 checks to employees exposed to occupational health risks.[12]
References edit
- ^ Hulse, Janie (September 2007). "China's expansion into and U.S. withdrawal from Argentina's telecommunications and space industries and the implications for U.S. national security" (PDF). strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil. U.S. Army Strategic Studies Institute. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ Le Maistre, Ray (3 March 2011). "WikiLeaks Cable Casts Dim Light on Huawei". lightreading.com. Light Reading Asia. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ "Wikileaks exposes US jitters over tender awards to China". Business Daily Africa. March 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ "07NAIROBI4246, Kenya - Doing business the Chinese way". wikileaks.ch. Wikileaks. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ a b "Huawei Technologies bans Indians in India". The Times of India. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ "Huawei invites Govt to inspect India offices". The Hindu. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ "No secret tests at Huawei facility, says company". The Economic Times. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ Geoffrey Crothall (12 Nov 2007). "ABC Radio Australia: CHINA: Companies seeking loopholes in new labour laws". China Labour Bulletin. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Is corporate "wolf-culture" devouring China's over-worked employees?". China Labour Bulletin. 27 May 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
- ^ Metz, Trevor (12 Nov 2007). "CBC News: Stemming the brain drain". CBC News. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ^ Xu, Zhiqiang (7 June 2006). "Worked to Death in China". OhmyNews International. Korea: OhmyNews International. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ "CSR Report 2010". Huawei.com. Huawei. 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2011.