NEW YORK, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Center for Corporate
Accountability (ICCA) today released audit results of Mattel, Inc.'s
owned-and-operated manufacturing facilities and suppliers in China and Mexico.
The reports are intended to provide an impartial, third-party analysis of
working conditions in Mattel's manufacturing facilities, and were commissioned
by Mattel (NYSE: MAT) as part of the company's ongoing commitment to uphold
its Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) code of conduct.
The follow-up reports are the latest in a series of voluntary audits by
independent monitors of both Mattel-owned manufacturing facilities, as well as
of supplier facilities, many of which also supply Mattel's competitors.
"With the conclusion of these most recent audits, ICCA has determined that
overall Mattel has made significant progress, but still has room for
improvement in a few key areas," said Dr. S. Prakash Sethi, chairman of ICCA
and University Distinguished Professor, Zicklin School of Business, Baruch
College. "While Mattel owned and operated facilities are consistently
meeting, and in some cases exceeding, its GMP standards, its suppliers still
need to improve conditions in contract manufacturing plants. Mattel must
focus more on its suppliers and seek the active support of its industry peers
and competitors, who use many of the same suppliers."
In summary, the reports note that Mattel has made many improvements in
owned and operated plants and supplier facilities, including resolving
workplace issues around employee communications and management training,
increasing access to management, updating systems for accounting of wages and
overtime, and making significant inroads into enforcement of its manufacturing
standards with suppliers.
Report on Mattel Suppliers in China
ICCA's follow-up audit report on suppliers notes that while Mattel has
made significant progress in addressing workplace issues around wages, safety,
and access to management, as well as updates to Mattel's GMP and exceptional
improvements in environmental concerns, the industry continues to face
challenges with overtime and minimum wage.
"It's important to note that Mattel's efforts to provide transparency in
its supplier base ultimately are providing much-needed transparency throughout
the toy industry, because many other toy companies work with these same
factories," Sethi said.
According to Sethi, Mattel recognizes the many challenges it faces, and
the company has been very proactive in working to affect positive change
through supplier code of conduct requirements.
"As Mattel works to improve conditions at vendor factories, the company
actually is affecting change that reaches beyond Mattel's own walls to make a
positive and long-term impact across the industry, which even includes
competitors," Sethi said.
Report on Mattel Owned and Operated Facilities in China and Mexico
ICCA's reports on Mattel's owned and operated facilities in China and
Mexico both show marked improvements.
In China, additional improvements are recognized around many aspects of
overall plant operations and compliance with Mattel's GMP. Mattel has met or
exceeded standards in many important areas, including worker health and
safety, individual rights and human resources, particularly in regards to
communications, openness and fairness and transparency in record-keeping
systems. Dormitory and living conditions continue to meet and sometimes
significantly exceed standards. Additionally, the report notes that Mattel
has done a commendable job in managing food and canteen facilities.
As with its suppliers, Mattel continues to face challenges with overtime
and minimum wage, particularly regarding divergence of local and national
laws.
In Mexico, plant employees report having a good understanding of Mattel's
GMP, and ICCA found Mattel's training and communications efforts in this
regard to be quite effective. ICCA is also pleased with Mattel's prompt and
proactive responses to specific areas requiring improvements, including
changes to calculations and payments of wages for swing shifts and increased
training and awareness with regard to maintaining a respectful workplace
environment. Mattel worked to make immediate changes to its payroll
processing system to recalculate overtime wages and to ensure that any swing
shift employees affected by miscalculations were compensated for back wages.
Mattel has also focused successful communications efforts on sensitivity
training. The general managers of both plants in Mexico have increased
sensitivity training programs for supervisory personnel, and have held open
forum meetings with employees to underscore the importance of respect for
fellow employees. Mattel is taking strong measures to enforce a
"zero-tolerance" policy in this area.
"We have been incredibly pleased with Mattel's prompt response and
proactive implementation of these programs," Sethi said. "In addition, Mattel
has exceeded our expectations in providing employees with extensive facilities
for extra-curricular activities, including sports, education, health and
entertainment. They are setting a good example in the manufacturing
industry."
"Through our efforts to lead in Corporate Social Responsibility, we have
set the pace for responsible manufacturing practices in the toy industry, and
we will continually strive to improve our facilities and work environments for
all of our employees," said Tom Debrowski, executive vice president of
worldwide operations for Mattel. "We are very proud of the standards we are
setting in the toy industry and beyond.
The full text of all ICCA reports can be viewed on the organization's Web
site at http://www.icca-corporateaccountability.org/ and on the Mattel
corporate Web site located at
http://www.mattel.com/about_us/Corp_Responsibility/default.asp.
Mattel's Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP), launched in November 1997,
form the cornerstone of the company's ongoing commitment to responsible
manufacturing practices around the world. Adherence to GMP seeks to ensure
that wages, working and living conditions, and employee access to management
are just and fair, as well as to assure protection of the environment. Mattel
contracts with ICCA to perform regular audits of its owned manufacturing
facilities and those of its major suppliers. ICCA's responsibility is to
evaluate and publish findings on these manufacturing facilities' compliance
with GMP.
ICCA's audit protocols are designed to verify compliance with Mattel's GMP
standards in a manner that is comprehensive, objectively measured, interpreted
in a meaningful manner, and independent of any other consideration except the
compliance standards specified in GMP.
About ICCA
Directed by Dr. S. Prakash Sethi, the (ICCA) is a not-for-profit,
independently incorporated organization comprised of a council of experts in
labor issues worldwide. ICCA encourages and assists multinational
corporations in creating, implementing and arranging independent monitoring of
codes of conduct. As an academically-affiliated organization, associated with
the Zicklin School of Business of Baruch College-The City University of New
York, ICCA also undertakes independent field research on aspects of corporate
governance and accountability that normally fall outside the purview of
corporate boards of directors, and engages in dialogue with a wide range of
stakeholders.
About Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and
marketing of toys and family products. The company's best-selling brands
include Barbie(R), Hot Wheels(R), Fisher-Price(R) and American Girl(R). With
headquarters in El Segundo, California, Mattel has offices and facilities in
42 countries and sells its product in more than 150 nations throughout the
world. The company's web site can be found at http://www.mattel.com.
Mattel's first Corporate Social Responsibility Report, published in 2004, can
be found at:
http://www.mattel.com/about_us/Corp_Responsibility/cr_csreport.asp.
SOURCE ICCA
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Related links:
http://www.mattel.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/540363.html
CONTACT:
Media, Dr. S. Prakash Sethi of International
Center for Corporate Accountability, +1-646-312-3100; or Jules
Andres of Mattel, Inc., +1-310-252-3529
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