According to Hong Kong media, an investigation team consisting of students from seven institutions of higher learning in Hong Kong have criticized Dell's (DELL) "bloody factories" and initiated a campaign to refuse to buy Dell computers.

The reports say that between November 2006 and August 2007, the investigation team conducted a study of the three Dell computer components factories of Chang'an Guangbao Electronics Co., Ltd; Xuji Electronics Co., Ltd; and Shijie Tairui Plastic Electronics Factory, all of which are located in Dongguan, and held talks with 60 workers from different departments of the three factories.

They found that the three factories had seriously infringed China's Labor Law by offering bad work conditions for workers. They were paid CNY17 daily, or CNY2.1 per hour for normal working hours and CNY3.5 per hour for extra hours, which were much lower than that of the national standard. These factories reportedly neither signed labor contracts with the workers, nor offered them any annual holidays or maternity leaves.

The investigation team believed the factories' behaviors were mainly caused by the outsourcing and subcontracting system of Dell, which usually adopts a zero stock policy and has to complete all installations within 36 hours after it receives a client's order, and as a result, it has to shift the burden to the suppliers who then shift it to the workers.

In order to resist Dell's goods, the seven universities are uniting to make corporate social responsibility a part of campus outsourcing policy. They say they will also send a report to Dell and hope the computer company can effectively supervise its suppliers.