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Apple Responds to Labor Accusations
jlaxson writes "Back in June, a number of accusations were leveled at Apple regarding labor practices in its overseas manufacturing and assembly plants. At the time, Apple denied the allegations and said that it would launch an investigation. Today, the results of the investigation were released. From the report: 'We found the supplier to be in compliance in the majority of the areas audited. However, we did find violations to our Code of Conduct, as well as other areas for improvement that we are working with the supplier to address. What follows is a summary of what we've learned, what's already being done in response, and our commitment to future diligence and action.'"
work more than 60 hours a week?
> From the report: 'We found the supplier to be in compliance in the majority of the areas audited.
> However, we did find violations to our Code of Conduct, as well as other areas for improvement that
> we are working with the supplier to address.
I think you mean `in addition`, given than being in compliance with the majority of areas audited means you failed to comply with all of them. I mean, Charles Manson was in compliance with most of the laws of the time...
may not be what is really happening.
IMHO, most audits are scheduled and the management knows about it weeks or even months before the audit. This could buy the management "time" to "instruct" everyone about the audit and do some "beautification". This could also be the time "silence" and "hide" some people too. I'm not saying that the manufacturing facility was dishonest during the audit but given the location of the manufacturing facilities (China), I would not be suprised if they turned out to be dishonest. (who wants to lose a client anyway)
But I really hope that the results of the audit are honest and true for the sake of all those people working there. Minor improvements there could greatly help the welfare of the workers.
(Insert bad robot voice) 'It's not my fault."
Hmmmmmm
The current list of companies subscribing to the EICC includes Apple.
Look carefully at the list. It is revealing. The only systems companies in that list are based in North America, Europe, and Japan. Acer (a Taiwanese systems house) and Samsung (a Korean systems house) are absent from that list. The only Taiwanese company on that list is Foxconn, a component supplier. Doubtless, tough pressure from IBM and other Western companies essentially "forced" Foxconn to comply with the EICC; otherwise, these Western companies would have dumped Foxconn as a supplier of PC connectors.
No one should be surprised over Apple management's commitment to investigating allegations of worker abuse in Apple's supply chain. Apple is committed to the EICC and demands that its suppliers treat their employees well.
If you had presented allegations of worker abuse to either Acer or Samsung, their managers would have arranged for security to throw you out of their offices.
These days, with laptops and desktops becoming indistinguishable commodities, I use corporate social responsiblity as the deciding factor in my purchases. I will also prefer an Apple laptop over an Acer laptop.
Nice to see the employees will be returning to a normal 60 hour week
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5262110.stm
We have to keep in mind that Apple's Code of Conduct != the law (though it may to them). Looks like they're not really breaking any rules here... just employee backs.
The report claims Longhua's workers live in dormitories that house 100 people, and that visitors from the outside world are not permitted. Workers toil for 15-hours a day to make the iconic music player, the report claims. They earn £27 per month. The report reveals that the iPod nano is made in a five-storey factory (E3) that is secured by police officers.
But I thought the iPod nano was cool and could be traded for 2 grams of coke on the open market??
What am I missing?
Prior to 2000, stories about death by overwork were not uncommon in Japan. The Japanese government recently enacted a law that effectively limits the amount of overtime that engineers may be forced to work. A recent article by the "New York Times" refers to the issue of limiting overtime.
Other articles commenting on this matter suggest that the law restricts overtime by requiring companies to pay engineers increased wages for each additional hour beyond 8 hours per day. According to one source, each hour of overtime must be paid 125% of standard pay.
Is there any chance that the California government will limit overtime in the same lucrative way (i.e., lucrative for the employees)?
Isn't it funny how those overtime hours that employers *need* us to work so badly dry up when they have to start paying for them.
Is there any chance that the California government will limit overtime in the same lucrative way (i.e., lucrative for the employees)?
There's a much higher chance that if you ask for it, they'll use the threat of outsourcing to shoot the idea down.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Apple is committed to the EICC and demands that its suppliers treat their employees well.
Except that Apple buys a much of components from samsung directly, not even counting what they use as a result of the contracts they put out. At one point Apple was getting 40% of Samsungs flash memory capacity.
If you had presented allegations of worker abuse to either Acer or Samsung, their managers would have arranged for security to throw you out of their offices.
Where are you getting this? Can you back this up with any instances?
Based on upvotes, Ageism is the only "-ism" Slashdotters care about and think isn't SJW
"We did, however, find that employees worked longer hours than permitted by our Code of Conduct, which limits normal workweeks to 60 hours and requires at least one day off each week."
A "normal" workweek maxes out at six days and sixty hours? That's nasty. Things like this remind me how lucky I was to be born in the US.
...is that the mandatory black turtle-neck sweaters easily get stuck in dangerous machinery. On the plus side, the jeans were supposedly not so bad. Unfortunately, the factories with mandatory kimono dress codes do have even higher accident rates.
The view was horrible and the smell was even worse; Julie severely regretted becoming a proctologist.
http://darkcreek.com/node/337
Pretty interesting if you think the site's reputable.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
why is everyone so up in arms about labor conditions in china? why are we trying to force our value system on another culture?
if any of you guys have ever actually gone over to china, and talked to the factory workers, then you'll realize that their standard of living's very much high than it was before the factories.
they're buying gucci bags and other luxury items (though at a deep discount)....
There are various exceptions, but it's 1.5x base pay
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
What did they do that was so terrible to their employees? Tie them to chairs and whip them with power cables if they didn't fudge numbers fast enough? No. It's just an example to show how stupid it is to make investments in just ONE company, especially if it is the one that employs you.
In related news the French work fewer hours for better pay and more vacation than their counterparts in the United States. I for one am offended that we lag behind the French in anything, but doubly so when it comes to getting paid and getting time off. And no, not smelling bad and not being a cheese-eating surrender monkey are not enough to make up for it.
The Farewell Tour II
Well, I think that is pretty-much Federal labor law across the entire US. However, good luck working less than 40 hours per week - technically they need to pay you the same, but in real life they just fire you if it happens regularly.
I get the equivilent of five weeks off a year with minimal overtime. I make somewhat over the average household income in the United States. I turned down a 50% raise going to another company where I wouldn't get half of the time off and more overtime. Most of my friends think I am nuts to turn down that kind of money.
You see, very often it is about choices. For some reason, we are after the almighty buck. Me? Family first. So when you see these stats, remember, it is largely about people's choices, bot the "big bad companies" forcing it on us. If more people walked away from money in exchange for life balance, less companies would be able to pull the crap they do.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Are you a fucking idiot? The French make more and have more time off with better benefits for doing the same work. Of course it's the the "big bad companies." It's nice that you're paid more than your small intelligence is obviously worth and that you could get even more than that if you chose to. But you need to get a fucking clue or gtfo of my country.
Not if you're still worth the money.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.