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Labor Activist: Apple May Be Terrible, But All Others Are Worse

Posted by samzenpus on from the best-of-the-worst dept.

CheerfulMacFanboy writes "Labor Activist Li Qiang wants you to know that the iPhone 4 in his pocket is not an endorsement of Apple's policies, just an acknowledgment that the company is doing a better job of monitoring factory conditions than its peers. The founder of leading advocacy group China Labor Watch (CLW) told us that, though the Cupertino company does more-thorough inspections than competitors, it is responsible for poor working conditions at its suppliers' factories and needs to invest some of its record-breaking profits in improving them. 'Although I know that the iPhone 4 is made at sweat shop factories in China, I still think that this is the only choice, because Apple is actually one of the best. Actually before I made a decision, I compared Apple with other cell phone companies, such as Nokia,' he said through a translator. 'And the conditions in those factories are worse than the ones of Apple.'"

2 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Wow, that's what passes for best these days by bonch · · Score: 0, Troll

    We've become so used to the idea that ALL consumer electronics are made in sweatshops that we're down to comparing whose sweatshop is the *least* nightmarish? That's more than a little sad, no?

    Foxconn is so "nightmarish" that thousands lined up to work there. That's not to say that conditions can't always be improved, but it's hardly some drastic human rights violation. A lot of its violations are managerial abuses and overtime exploitation, making it not unlike Walmart.

  2. Re:Interesting headline change by bonch · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yes - helping other people is "an impossible slippery slope" indeed!

    Trying to police the entire world is impossible. In fact, it's what gets us into trouble in the first place. More pressure should be placed on the Chinese government, since it is ultimately their responsibility to improve the lives of their citizens. I believe Apple and other companies do as much as can reasonably be done as foreign private entities, but since electronics factories like Foxconn are the biggest in the world, there really isn't any other place to go that can match supply.