My research into all aspects of Wellington's journey led to several lines of enquiry which I followed up through both published and internet-based sources. The more I found out, the more questions I needed to answer:
How had Wellington been produced?
Did one person make him or was he put together by a number of workers?
How had he been transported to the UK?
How could such an intricate toy be manufactured so cheaply?
Transportation
I knew that Wellington would have arrived in the UK on a container ship, probably via one of the busier UK container ports such as Felixstowe or Southampton. General information about these ports was easy to find via the internet, but more specific information about shipping routes, journey times and distances was much more difficult to obtain.
What would the container ship have been like?
How many Wellington toys could have fitted inside each container?
How were they packed?
How many containers were needed?
Were containers dropped off at other ports on the way to the UK?
McDonald's has more than 31,000 restaurants in 118 countries. Had Wellington been produced for a world market, or just for the UK?
Production and working conditions
My attempts to identify the exact factory in China where Wellington had been made brought me into contact with a number of different organisations involved in monitoring working conditions in Chinese toy factories. Some of these bodies are listed below. Many of the factories that were monitored produced goods for well known western brands, and names such as WalMart, Mattel, Nike, McDonalds and Disney featured regularly. Conditions in the factories were often appalling. Long hours, abuse, cruelty, ill-health and disgusting living accommodation were just some of the issues raised.
Most of the published reports on the Chinese toy industry focused on factories producing plastic rather than soft toys. However, one report I found published in 20021 explored conditions in factories used by a number of large-scale multinational companies, including McDonald's. The findings were horrendous:
In some factories, workers were required to work 20-hour, all-night shifts, from 8.00 am to 4.00 am.
During one brutal five-day period at a plant producing stuffed toys for McDonald's, Disney and Warner Brothers, workers were forced to work virtually around the clock - including one shift of 27 hours.
Some workers were required to work a seven-day week and to work 30 days a month.
Reports of workers fainting from the long hours and exhaustion were common.
Wages were pitifully low. Some workers were paid as little as 12 to 14 cents an hour or $8.42 for a 72-hour working week.
Accommodation for workers was overcrowded and insanitary. In one case, 16 workers were found to be sharing one small dormitory room.
Project Kaleidoscope
According to the report, production of soft toys like Wellington continued for some years after the date shown on Wellington's label, 1999. Surely working conditions must have improved since then? My attention was drawn to a report published in March 2008 called Project Kaleidoscope.2 The report tentatively lifted my spirits.
Project Kaleidoscope was a joint venture set up and run by representatives of the McDonald's Corporation, The Walt Disney Company and other organisations concerned with international labour issues. The project was piloted in 10 factories in southern China that produced goods for McDonald's and Disney licensees.
The aim was to ensure essential protections for workers as well as advancing the interests of employers, corporate customers and shareholders. The conclusion was fairly positive, and the project organisers clearly felt that their main goal of promoting long-term compliance with labour standards had been achieved. But with Chinese industry currently struggling with the effects of the global recession, can we be sure that the toys we buy in the shops are not still being produced in inhumane or abusive conditions?
Notes
1 Toys of Misery: A report on the Toy Industry of China, The National Labour Committee, January 2002 (http://www.nlcnet.org)
2 Final "Project Kaleidoscope" Report Released
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility 07 May 2008
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/391171
List of organisations
Labour Behind The Label
www.labourbehindthelabel.org
Labour Behind The Label is a campaign that supports the efforts of garment workers worldwide to improve their working conditions, through awareness raising, information provision and encouraging international solidarity between workers and consumers.
The National Labor Committee
www.nlcnet.org
The National Labor Committee (slogan, Putting A Human Face On The Global Economy) campaigns for workers' rights, fair wages and conditions and against child labour worldwide, and covers a wide variety of industries. Its website includes videos, reports and statistics and recorded interviews with workers.
TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development)
www.traid.org.uk
TRAID is an organisation that diverts clothes from landfill in order to recycle and sell at its shops. The proceeds go towards fighting inequality and exploitation in the global textile supply chain, and help to fund projects establishing environmental sustainability in some of the world's poorest communities.