Electronics products are a key part of the infrastructure in schools, hospitals and other
public institutions sponsored by the taxpayers. But if the taxpayers scrutinised the
procurement of IT equipment in regards to social sustainability, would it pass the test?

Data on public procurement of IT equipment is scarce, but the funds involved are known
to be huge: the European states’ public procurement of ICT equipment, services and
software amounted to 94 billion Euros in 2007.1 The European Commission, as well as
most European states, acknowledge the significant footprint of public procurement and
therefore have policies for green and socially sustainable procurement. Such policies have
the aim of ensuring that the taxpayers’ money is used on public spending which does no
harm to the environment and does not violate workers’ rights in the global supply chain.
However, intentions and policies to ensure the sustainability of public ICT procurement are
severely restricted by the current structure and setup of the electronics industry.

This report provides an insight of labour issues in the ICT industry, focusing on occupational
health and safety issues and freedom of association, compounded by cases from
South Korea and China. There are many ways to address these issues – informing and
organising among workers, governments of production countries implementing their
labour laws, etc. Social responsible public procurement (SRPP) is a new, untried way for
institutional consumers on the buying end of the supply chain to exercise influence by
using their purchasing power. Electronics Watch is propagating socially responsible public
procurement as a means to bring about structural improvements of labour conditions in
the global electronics industry.

Due to extensive competition based on cheap labour, the electronics industry is riddled
with labour rights violations. Company audits, academic literature and civil society organisations
all suggest that the labour rights violations are not specific to single brands,
but rather characterise the electronics industry as a whole. No brand can note to have
socially sustainable working conditions throughout its supply chain, and public buyers are
therefore left with little guarantee that any ICT equipment being procured live up to international
labour standards.

Consequently, European states are buying billions worth of ICT equipment that is at high
risk of having been produced in violation of basic labour rights. Workers often endure
poverty wages, forced overtime, unsafe working conditions, serious health hazards and
violations of their associational rights.

This poses a serious challenge to public buyers who want to ensure their spending of
taxpayers’ money is sustainable and minimise risks to their image.
The research for this report was conducted by DanWatch, on behalf of Electronics Watch,
in the summer of 2014. Field research was carried out in South Korea in May 2014, where
qualitative interviews were conducted with local stakeholders including current and former
electronics industry workers, NGOs, union representatives and electronics manufacturing
companies.

This report will deal with two specific labour rights issues in the ICT industry, illustrated by
case stories from South Korea and China.