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Milwaukee Tool company sued over Chinese prisoners allegedly making its branded gloves [1]

['Rob Beschizza']

Date: 2024-07-01  

You'll hear it said by any contractor who knows the difference: Milwaukee makes good tools. But the company's gloves are made in China, allegedly by prisoners there. The company is being sued over claims it exploited people forced to perform "grueling work" under "humiliating and degrading conditions."

The lawsuit [PDF] was filed in U.S. District Court in Wisconsin, where Hong Kong-owned Milwaukee Tool's U.S. headquarters are.

According to the lawsuit, a Milwaukee Tool supplier used forced labor at Hunan Chishan Prison in China. At the prison, individuals were allegedly exploited and forced to do "grueling work" under "humiliating and dehumanizing" conditions. The lawsuit said inmates were threatened and punished when they refused to work or did not meet their production quotas. The most severe punishments allegedly included beatings and electric shocks.

You won't see a 'made in' delaration on the product listings at Home Depot or Milkwaukee's homepage, but looking at the labels I find "Engineered by Milwaukee, made in China" and "Professionally made in China."

The lawsuit refers to rubber molding, but all these tool brands are into fashion these days. You'd think they'd be a bit more circumspect about the place where "made as cheaply as possible in China" and their reputations meet.

That said, the company denies the prison labor accusation outright.

In a statement, Milwaukee Tool declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, but it did address allegations that work gloves were made using forced labor. "Despite rigorous investigations, Milwaukee Tool has found no evidence of forced labor in the production of our gloves," the statement reads. "Our commitment to transparency and accountability is underscored by multiple independent third-party and internal audits, none of which found any indication of such practices."

Previously:

• Opus Dei masturbation gloves

• Epic glove ad explains benefits of gloves

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