Apple steps up checks for child labor
Source: Agencies |
January 26, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
APPLE Inc stepped up audits of working conditions at major suppliers last year, discovering multiple cases of underage workers, discrimination and wage problems.
Apple, which relies heavily on Asian-based partners like Foxconn Technology Group to assemble the vast majority of its iPhones and iPads, said it conducted 393 audits, up 72 percent from 2011, reviewing sites where more than 1.5 million workers make its gadgets.
Apple in recent years has faced accusations of building its profits on the backs of poorly treated and severely underpaid workers in China.
That criticism came to the fore around 2010, after reports of suicides at Foxconn drew attention to the long hours that migrant workers frequently endure, often for a pittance in wages and in severely cramped living conditions.
Jeff Williams, Apple senior vice president of operations, said the company has increased its efforts to solve two of the most challenging issues - ensuring there are no underage workers in its supply chain and limiting working hours to 60 hours a week.
While child labor reflected a small percentage of the workforce, Apple is now investigating its smaller suppliers - which supply parts to larger suppliers and hence face less oversight on such issues - to bring them into compliance, sometimes even firing them.
In one case, Apple said it terminated its relationship with a component maker Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics Co after discovering 74 cases of underage workers.
Apple also discovered an employment agency that was forging documents to allow children to illegally work at the supplier.
Apple, which relies heavily on Asian-based partners like Foxconn Technology Group to assemble the vast majority of its iPhones and iPads, said it conducted 393 audits, up 72 percent from 2011, reviewing sites where more than 1.5 million workers make its gadgets.
Apple in recent years has faced accusations of building its profits on the backs of poorly treated and severely underpaid workers in China.
That criticism came to the fore around 2010, after reports of suicides at Foxconn drew attention to the long hours that migrant workers frequently endure, often for a pittance in wages and in severely cramped living conditions.
Jeff Williams, Apple senior vice president of operations, said the company has increased its efforts to solve two of the most challenging issues - ensuring there are no underage workers in its supply chain and limiting working hours to 60 hours a week.
While child labor reflected a small percentage of the workforce, Apple is now investigating its smaller suppliers - which supply parts to larger suppliers and hence face less oversight on such issues - to bring them into compliance, sometimes even firing them.
In one case, Apple said it terminated its relationship with a component maker Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics Co after discovering 74 cases of underage workers.
Apple also discovered an employment agency that was forging documents to allow children to illegally work at the supplier.
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