Coca-Cola States Chinese College Students' Report Untrue

In response to a report by Chinese college students that it is using temporary and interim labor illegally in China, Coca-Cola has made a formal announcement, claiming that the facts mentioned in the students' report are untrue.

In addition to Coca-Cola, all five suppliers to Coca-Cola mentioned in the original report have each issued a written announcement to refute the claims raised by the students.

Coca-Cola's Dongguan bottling factory, which was blamed for deducting temporary workers' salaries, states that it has paid the workers their full salaries based on their attendance. In addition, the company says that temporary and interim laborers account for 21% of its total employees and they work for the factory on an hourly basis, which has been approved by the local labor department. The factory stresses that their use of temporary and interim labor complies with China's Labor Contract Law.

For the long term use of temporary and interim workers, Coca-Cola's Hangzhou bottler responds that they signed labor contract with the employees and the number of temporary and interim laborers has never accounted for more than 43% of its total employees. The factory says it pays the workers fully according to the labor contract and there is no such thing as a deferred payment. In addition, the factory says it has provided insurance for all the workers including the temporary and interim ones.

Coca-Cola's suppliers in Guangzhou and Huizhou have also made a response to the students' report, saying that they have never deferred the workers' salaries. They say they've paid the workers higher salaries than the local minimum wage. Besides, they claim that they've provide time for the workers to rest no matter whether it is high season or low season.

Coca-Cola's supplier in Shanghai — Shanghai Shenmei Beverage & Food Company — has denied the students' report which says that it is charging illegal admission fees to the workers as a condition to work and deducts salary from the temporary workers.

Coca-Cola says that the student team has never had formal contact with the company's suppliers, but it will try to communicate with the students to let them know more about Coca-Cola.

In July, nine college students from Beijing, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou went to work for four suppliers of Coca-Cola. They also visited Coca-Cola's bottlers in Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou and Shanghai and contacted more than 80 workers there before they compiled the survey report that was released on Chinese Internet website 163.com earlier this week.

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