"Robots, not human beings" ... Sokhemara Ngo has spoken out about conditions at the computer factory. Credit:Domino Postiglione When the workers get to the factory they are often told they will only be working for four hours - barely enough to cover the cost of their travel. ''Foxteq is another country,'' said one of the workers, who asked not to be named. ''You don't expect it in this day and age.'' A former employee and a group of workers from the company risked their jobs last week to speak to the Herald about life at Foxteq.

Workers are scanned by guards. Credit:Carlos Furtado They say the operation sees workers pitted against each other and subjected to poor working conditions including metal detector checks whenever they step outside, but most are unable to find work elsewhere because they have few skills and little English. Weststaff - the labour hire company contracted to staff the operation - strenuously rejects many of the workers' statements, claiming they are treated with dignity and respect. But a former employee, Sokhemara Ngo, said workers were treated ''like robots, not human beings''. ''You can't organise your life when you have no idea whether you're working from one day to the next,'' he said. ''People who say they can't work or do overtime get told they have to do it or they won't get work.''

The NSW general manager of Weststaff, Vic Aruli, confirmed that workers were notified of their shifts by text message, but said uncertainty was an unavoidable consequence in the computer business. ''Hewlett-Packard put their orders in each day so it's hard to know how many staff they'll need,'' Mr Aruli said. ''That's what our business caters for - people who need staff at short notice. This kind of work isn't for everyone, but it's not against the law. ''It's not cheap making computers in Australia. This kind of arrangement happens a lot.'' But the NSW Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Tim Ayres, said Foxteq and Weststaff had taken the casual labour-hire model to a new extreme.

''This is a company that is making hundreds of thousands of dollars off the back of the labour of these workers,'' he said. ''There are thousands of employees in office blocks around Sydney tapping away on computers that have been made in exploitative conditions.'' Some of the staff at Foxteq have been employed as casuals at the factory for years. Normally this would be considered a breach of the federal award under which casuals must be given permanent status if they work consistently for more than six months. But because the staff are engaged by a labour hire company it is unclear whether anyone can be prosecuted.

Mr Aruli denied Weststaff was taking advantage of a loophole, but conceded it was ''a grey area''. ''As an industry we haven't settled that yet,'' he said. The workers say their poor treatment doesn't stop at irregular shifts with little notice. They say employees are pitted against each other - with the output of each assembly line carefully calculated and the information used to pressure staff to work faster. ''There's a minimum target of more than 400 computers per line per shift. You're told that the best line is going to get first pick of the work for the next week,'' one worker said.

Mr Aruli said he did not believe this was happening at the factory. The Foxteq manager responsible for the Rydalmere operation, Patrick Collins, said the company was investigating the issues raised by the workers. ''We take this quite seriously. We try to give our staff the best working environment possible,'' Mr Collins said. He said he was not aware of any intimidation at the factory. A spokeswoman for Hewlett-Packard, which contracts the work to Foxteq, said it was investigating the allegations, but that the company was ''a recognised leader in supply-chain social and environmental responsibility''.

Loading A spokesman from the NSW Department of Services said the government had no direct contract with Foxteq, though it ''may be involved in the supply chain''. Do you know more? pbibby@smh.com.au