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In all this 4G hype, let's not forget the workers who perished
By Li Xinran |
May 24, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
APPLE Inc's next mobile handset iPhone 4G is expected to be released on June 7 in Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, almost sure to trigger another round of global enthusiasm as its predecessors did.
When Apple lovers, gadgets enthusiasts, global media and the world eagerly anticipate the moment, perhaps we may temporarily divert our attention from the small device to be held in Steve Jobs' hands on the occasion to the humble workers on the device's assembly lines.
Excited users might be impressed by the shiny and intelligent multi-touch screen of their new Apple handsets, but few were aware of its cleaning process - until a recent news report by National Business Daily revealed bad news. It reported that dozens of workers in a factory neighboring Shanghai had been hospitalized after cleaning iPhone screens with a toxic chemical called n-hexane.
These workers have launched a legal action against their employer, a parts supplier for Apple, according to an earlier report by China's leading news portal Sina.com.
The Beijing-based Economic Observer quoted a former executive of the supplier Wintek Corp as saying that Apple "suggested" using n-hexane as it was more cost-effective.
Although the use of the chemicals in question complied with China's laws, suppliers usually had insufficient time to address safety issues because they had to meet strict Apple deadlines, the newspaper said.
Minimum wages
Workers hired by Apple's suppliers or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were often paid minimum wages because of the American company's stringent cost controls, the newspaper said. For instance, a source with Wintek told the newspaper that the plant was paid US$4 for each US$499 iPhone. It's not clear how Apple and Foxconn divide the revenue.
Yuna Huang, Apple China's public relations manager, told Shanghai Daily that Apple never gives details about profit allocation between itself and OEMs.
She also declined to comment on the other issues like minimum wages and toxic cleansers, but emphasized that the electronic giant releases a report annually focusing on the rights protection of workers serving Apple's contract manufacturers.
In any case, this is not the first time that working safety concerns are raised against Apple OEMs.
No more than a year ago, Sun Danyong committed suicide by jumping from a building in Shenzhen after he lost an iPhone prototype and was interrogated by his employer, the world's largest electronics manufacturer, Foxconn Technology, which feared of losing Apple's trust or even orders.
Apple's achievements are there for all to see. Its strict quality requirement is indeed a merit in itself. Fashion plus quality is why Apple has won the hearts of millions and millions of users. My father wakes up every day with his iPhone beside him, and this gives him endless joy in most of his spare time.
However, despite its rhetoric about treating its workers with dignity, Apple has kept using Foxconn as one of its major suppliers.
Foxy deals
An overseas market research firm quoted a source that Foxconn planned to offer Apple 24 million iPhone 4Gs within the year from next month - only days after the ninth of its workers jumped off a building in yet another suicide attempt this year.
On May 21, the 10th Foxconn employee in Shenzhen jumped to his death.
Of the 10 employees who jumped from a building in Foxconn's Shenzhen factory this year, eight died and two were injured.
Surely the victims suffered psychologically, but 10 suicides or suicide attempts in less than half a year in one company is never just about a personal psychological problem.
Apple may not have ordered Foxconn to treat its workers like non-persons, but the IT giant surely has been part of the making of a sweatshop factory. The same can be said of many other global IT giants that have profited from contracts with Foxconn.
And Foxconn is far from the only "fox" in a globalized business environment. The pursuit of maximum profit has produced a million other Apples and "foxes" in a so-called free market.
When Apple lovers, gadgets enthusiasts, global media and the world eagerly anticipate the moment, perhaps we may temporarily divert our attention from the small device to be held in Steve Jobs' hands on the occasion to the humble workers on the device's assembly lines.
Excited users might be impressed by the shiny and intelligent multi-touch screen of their new Apple handsets, but few were aware of its cleaning process - until a recent news report by National Business Daily revealed bad news. It reported that dozens of workers in a factory neighboring Shanghai had been hospitalized after cleaning iPhone screens with a toxic chemical called n-hexane.
These workers have launched a legal action against their employer, a parts supplier for Apple, according to an earlier report by China's leading news portal Sina.com.
The Beijing-based Economic Observer quoted a former executive of the supplier Wintek Corp as saying that Apple "suggested" using n-hexane as it was more cost-effective.
Although the use of the chemicals in question complied with China's laws, suppliers usually had insufficient time to address safety issues because they had to meet strict Apple deadlines, the newspaper said.
Minimum wages
Workers hired by Apple's suppliers or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were often paid minimum wages because of the American company's stringent cost controls, the newspaper said. For instance, a source with Wintek told the newspaper that the plant was paid US$4 for each US$499 iPhone. It's not clear how Apple and Foxconn divide the revenue.
Yuna Huang, Apple China's public relations manager, told Shanghai Daily that Apple never gives details about profit allocation between itself and OEMs.
She also declined to comment on the other issues like minimum wages and toxic cleansers, but emphasized that the electronic giant releases a report annually focusing on the rights protection of workers serving Apple's contract manufacturers.
In any case, this is not the first time that working safety concerns are raised against Apple OEMs.
No more than a year ago, Sun Danyong committed suicide by jumping from a building in Shenzhen after he lost an iPhone prototype and was interrogated by his employer, the world's largest electronics manufacturer, Foxconn Technology, which feared of losing Apple's trust or even orders.
Apple's achievements are there for all to see. Its strict quality requirement is indeed a merit in itself. Fashion plus quality is why Apple has won the hearts of millions and millions of users. My father wakes up every day with his iPhone beside him, and this gives him endless joy in most of his spare time.
However, despite its rhetoric about treating its workers with dignity, Apple has kept using Foxconn as one of its major suppliers.
Foxy deals
An overseas market research firm quoted a source that Foxconn planned to offer Apple 24 million iPhone 4Gs within the year from next month - only days after the ninth of its workers jumped off a building in yet another suicide attempt this year.
On May 21, the 10th Foxconn employee in Shenzhen jumped to his death.
Of the 10 employees who jumped from a building in Foxconn's Shenzhen factory this year, eight died and two were injured.
Surely the victims suffered psychologically, but 10 suicides or suicide attempts in less than half a year in one company is never just about a personal psychological problem.
Apple may not have ordered Foxconn to treat its workers like non-persons, but the IT giant surely has been part of the making of a sweatshop factory. The same can be said of many other global IT giants that have profited from contracts with Foxconn.
And Foxconn is far from the only "fox" in a globalized business environment. The pursuit of maximum profit has produced a million other Apples and "foxes" in a so-called free market.
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