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Apple Is Making Life Terrible In Its Factories (theregister.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: Pressure from Apple to lower costs is driving worsening conditions for workers at the company's manufacturing partners.
This according to watchdog group China Labor Watch, which says that under CEO Tim Cook, the Cupertino giant has asked the companies that assemble its products to cut their own costs, and those demands have led them to cut back on worker pay and factory conditions. Specifically, the group reports that Pegatron has been passing on financial pressures from Apple by committing multiple violations of Chinese labor laws on fair pay and workplace safety.
"Working conditions are terrible, and workers are subject to terrible treatment," China Labor Watch writes. "Currently, Apple's profits are declining, and the effects of this decline have been passed on to suppliers. To mitigate the impact, Pegatron has taken some covert measures to exploit workers."
This according to watchdog group China Labor Watch, which says that under CEO Tim Cook, the Cupertino giant has asked the companies that assemble its products to cut their own costs, and those demands have led them to cut back on worker pay and factory conditions. Specifically, the group reports that Pegatron has been passing on financial pressures from Apple by committing multiple violations of Chinese labor laws on fair pay and workplace safety.
"Working conditions are terrible, and workers are subject to terrible treatment," China Labor Watch writes. "Currently, Apple's profits are declining, and the effects of this decline have been passed on to suppliers. To mitigate the impact, Pegatron has taken some covert measures to exploit workers."
As long as the employees are not forcibly coerced to work there, I fail to be outraged.
I really have a hard time calling these students "volunteers"
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
There is no fiduciary duty to make a profit, this is a myth that keeps on getting told.
not the kind of liberal society you find in advanced Western democracies...
You probably meant: "in fairy tales".
...with their regulated market economies and worker's rights guarantees.
Do you mean those that have been steadily wiped out over the last 30 years in most western countries as a result of the fall of the USSR, globalization, lower tariffs, the WTO, privatizations, etc...? I remember when in the '80s in my country salaries were mandated to be linked to inflation, no company could even dream to outsource production otherwise it would pay a 50% tariff, layoffs were heavily limited by the "just cause" principle, the rich paid a 70% tax rate and could not export capitals, healthcare was entirely public... ah, good times.
There are a variety of online articles that contradict your claim that independent labor unions are allowed in China
The ACFTU is a government run umbrella organization for labor unions in China. But unions do NOT have to join. Even for unions that do join, they have the right to independently declare strikes. The links you provide point out (correctly) that unions in China face big challenges. How is that different than America, where union membership has dramatically declined, and service workers are proving difficult to organize?
These factories tend to offer better jobs than any alternative available, and many workers come from the countryside, work for a few years to build up a nest egg, and then return home to their families. The transient nature of the workforce means they aren't willing to sacrifice now for future gains.
I am more inclined to believe the accusations of dissidents than the wealthy authoritarian party's propaganda.
These accusations do NOT come from Chinese dissidents. China Labor Watch is an American organization based in New York.