Slashdot Mirror
Some Critics Suggest Apple Boycott Over Chinese Working Conditions
Hugh Pickens writes "The Guardian reports that Apple's image is taking a dive after revelations in the NY Times about working conditions in the factories of some of its network of Chinese suppliers and the dreaded word 'boycott' has started to appear in media coverage of Apple's activities. 'Should consumers boycott Apple?' asked a column in the Los Angeles Times as it recounted details of the bad PR fallout amid detailed allegations that workers at Foxconn suffered in conditions that resembled a modern version of bonded labor, working obscenely long shifts in unhealthy conditions with few of the labor rights that workers in the west would take for granted." Read on, below.
Pickens continues: "But Apple has come out fighting, which is no surprise given the remarkable success that the company has seen in recent years with its reputation for 'cool' among hip urban professionals and a generally positive corporate image. In a lengthy email sent to Apple staff, chief executive Tim Cook met the allegations head-on. 'We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern,' Cook said. He went on to slam critics of the company. 'Any suggestion that we don't care is patently false and offensive to us ... accusations like these are contrary to our values.' So will we see some kind of movement to boycott Apple products, akin to the campaign several years ago to pressure Nike to improve working conditions in its factories asks Sam Gustin in Time Magazine? "You can either manufacture in comfortable, worker-friendly factories, or you can reinvent the product every year, and make it better and faster and cheaper, which requires factories that seem harsh by American standards," an anonymous current Apple executive told the Times. "And right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China.""
Next, boycott anyone who can't guarantee their workers receive a decent standard of living...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Your flame bait rant aside....Just read the comments from Apple executives. They're enough to make you smash Apple products you own.
The NYT article brings to light conditions and tragedies that many people did not know about. It's hard to ignore these images.
It is also hypocritical for America to refuse to buy products manufactured in china but not America, considering America has kept slave labor around for years, we just call it prison labor. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8289
Your flame bait rant aside....Just read the comments from Apple executives. They're enough to make you smash Apple products you own.
Agreed. It's one thing to make your products in factories operating under those conditions, but the apple exutive seemed to be so proud of the fact that they have near-slaves building their products when he described the condition under which they work. I can't even imagine what he was thinking when he described all that the way he did. A normal person holds back when talking about something they know other people probably wouldn't approve of, especially when it's a major corporation with a public image to uphold. He seemed oblivious to the fact that people might not approve. I couldn't decide if he was clueless or a sociopath.
I won't whitewash this "American slave labor", but I wonder if the prison laborers are subjected to very long work days (6 days, 60 hours), toxic chemicals, and other safety risks that would not fly elsewhere in America? Are the prisoners doing this work typically 12 and 13yr old girls?
If you're in prison, you didn't just wake up there one day. You got there for a reason. As a felon, you lose rights (voting, guns, etc). They are paid a very meager wage according to your article, but I'm just saying that even on balance, the Chinese workers probably STILL have it worse.
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
scalability of production is exactly about wages. they just don't want to admit that. why the supply lines are in china? because all the fucking parts are made around there - and why they're made there? well doh, cheaper wages, cheaper real estate and shorter lines to the factory where they're assembled into a product. it's not like the final assembly is that much of the actual work that goes in to a typical apple product.
because you'd need to pay a shitload of cash for people to work as if they were on a gig on an oil drilling platform whilst really just folding boxes for the xmas season..
and the answer for how to get the jobs back to america would be to work smarter, not harder. the same way somehow germans manage to make cars consistently year after year and bring in a buck.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Tariffs would do this too and are a large part of our US history. Tariffs are sanctioned by the WTO if your trade imbalance is >10%.
So why don't we do it?
love is just extroverted narcissism