In a response to last week's press release by the National Labor Committee (NLC) and China Labor Watch, New Balance says that it does not contract, nor has ever contracted, shoe products at the Hongyuan factory identified in the NLC/CLW press release.
A report last week issued by NLC says that both Wal-Mart and New Balance use a factory in China's Dongguan city that routinely has employees work up to 96 hours a week. The report also says that workers are often "cheated of their legal overtime pay."
New Balance says that instead it uses a factory located in Houjie, Dongguan city. The show company says this factory is closely monitored by a New Balance Compliance Team including a Compliance Manager for China and a Compliance Specialist. The Compliance Specialist is based in the factory and is there every day.
New Balance also says workers at factories in China producing New Balance footwear are limited to a maximum of 54 hours a week. That includes 40 regular working hours with a maximum of 14 additional overtime hours. New Balance says all overtime is voluntary.
New Balance says it "operates with the highest ethics and stands for integrity of people and product".
There is no word yet from NLC on the discrepancies in the names of the areas in Dongguan where the factory is located. However their report does say that the Hongyuan factory has links to many other factories, and the Houjie factory might be among those not listed in the report. New Balance has not denied a link between the factories.
The NLC Report says that shoes were recently being made for Wal-Mart, but the retailer has not issued a statement.
