The Milwaukee District Court in Wisconsin, USA, has recently accepted a lawsuit accusing the renowned brand Milwaukee Tool of sourcing products made through forced labor in Chinese prison factories.
The lawsuit also implicates its parent company, Techtronic Industries Co., Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed corporation with production facilities in the United States, China, Vietnam, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
The plaintiff, using the pseudonym Xu Lun, a Chinese citizen working for a non-governmental organization advocating for the rights of marginalized groups in China, such as AIDS patients, hepatitis B patients, and disabled individuals, filed the lawsuit due to concerns about their safety. Xu Lun was arbitrarily detained by Chinese authorities for alleged “subversion of state power” in July 2021, a common charge used against dissenters and human rights activists by the Chinese Communist Party.
During a five-month confinement in the Chishan Prison in Hunan Province in 2022, Xu Lun was reportedly coerced to labor and produce work gloves bearing the “Milwaukee Tool” logo.
The products manufactured by Milwaukee Tool in the prison included demolition gloves, winter demolition gloves, performance gloves, and FreeFlex work gloves.
Prisoners were assigned tasks such as cutting fabric, sewing, gluing, ironing, and quality control, enduring long work hours of up to 13 hours a day with only a maximum of three days off per month.
The factory lacked proper ventilation, heating, or air conditioning, subjecting inmates to harsh weather conditions. Many prisoners developed skin conditions like eczema, and machinery accidents causing injuries such as piercing fingers were common due to poor working conditions.
The facility was filled with fabric dust, leading to respiratory ailments from continuous inhalation. Prolonged work hours in adverse conditions also resulted in health issues like hemorrhoids and prostatitis among inmates.
Xu Lun witnessed fellow inmates facing threats and punishments for refusing to work, not meeting production quotas, or not working diligently enough. Punishments ranged from physical abuse to sleep deprivation, including standing or squatting for extended periods, restrictions on visits from family members, purchasing goods, and using the restroom.
Allegations against Milwaukee Tool were first brought to light by the nonprofit news outlet Wisconsin Watch. Through interviews with former prisoners at Chishan Prison and undercover investigations of Shanghai Select Safety Products, a supplier of Milwaukee Tool, it was confirmed that forced labor existed in Milwaukee Tool’s supply chain.
Taiwanese human rights defender Lee Ming-che, who served five years in Chishan Prison, confirmed producing various Milwaukee Tool gloves during his time there, working over 90 hours per week and earning around 48 cents a day.
Approximately 80% of the work conducted in Chishan Prison involved producing products for Milwaukee Tool (Shanghai Select Safety Products) and China’s largest military goods manufacturer, Jihua Group.
Cheng Yuan, founder of the NGO, Changsha Funeng, serving a prison sentence at Chishan Prison, has been a concern for human rights violations and forced labor. His wife, Shi Minglei, fled to the United States in 2021, exposing her husband’s ordeal in prison and calling for Milwaukee Tool to cease sourcing gloves from prison labor.
The investigative report by Wisconsin Watch prompted bipartisan congressional inquiries into Milwaukee Tool’s supply chain. In July last year, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission Chairman, Republican Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, stated that the commission was reviewing issues within Milwaukee Tool’s supply chain.
In April this year, the US Customs and Border Protection detained glove products purportedly from Milwaukee Tool’s supplier, Shanghai Select Safety Products, citing forced labor concerns.
In response, Milwaukee Tool denied the allegations of forced labor during glove production and suggested that the gloves from prison labor might be counterfeit. The company’s statement released Thursday mentioned finding unauthorized counterfeit gloves from China bearing the Milwaukee Tool brand, indicating these gloves may be unauthorized knockoffs.