Houlahan’s Chinese sweatshop

In case you missed it, a bombshell report from City and State Pennsylvania reveals Greedy Chrissy Houlahan made millions while her company exploited and abused Chinese laborers for years.

Key Points:

• The 2004 “China Labor Watch” report states that forced overtime, subsistence wages and repressive management tactics were routine at Pou Chen plants in Dongguan, China.
• According to interviews with former laborers, 75- to 100-hour workweeks were the norm, with employees earning just 35 cents an hour.
• The report notes that plant workers lived in “primitive” dormitories and were fed food that resembled “pig slop.”
• During working hours, employees were prohibited from talking on the factory floor and had to perform mandatory daily calisthenics routines while shouting company slogans.
• Workers handled toxic chemicals that caused skin and eye irritation, headache, dizziness, vomiting, breathing difficulties, drowsiness, and nervous breakdown.
• Supervisors routinely humiliated workers, shouting and yelling at them. The report found “a definite climate of fear and repression in these factories.”

Houlahan was employed at AND1 from 1996 to 2005, serving as Director of Distribution and Information Services, Chief Operating Officer, and EVP Retail. Houlahan’s husband, Bart Houlahan, also worked at AND1, serving as CFO, COO, and President.