Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Apple
    • Apple
    • IT Management
    • Mobile
    • PC Hardware

    Apple Allows FLA to Inspect Working Conditions at Foxconn

    By
    Michelle Maisto
    -
    February 13, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Apple has been asked to behave like an industry leader and has responded in kind. On Feb. 13, the iPhone maker announced that, at Apple’s request, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) will conduct voluntary audits of Apple’s assembly suppliers, including Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China. The first inspections began the same morning, at “Foxconn City” in Shenzhen.

      €œWe believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we€™ve asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers,€ Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. €œThe inspections now under way are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports.€


      The announcement follows a number of reports€”coming just weeks before the iPad 3’s expected introduction€”revealing harsh worker conditions at the Foxconn factories, which have led to petitions asking Apple to make changes and to be more transparent.

      “Apple has announced that the Fair Labor Association will be monitoring its suppliers. Awesome step. Please publish the results of FLA’s monitoring, including the names of the suppliers found to have violations and what those violations are, so that there is transparency around the monitoring effort,” Mark Shields wrote in a Change.org petition signed by more than 200,000 people.

      The FLA findings and recommendations from the assessments will be posted in early March on the FLA Website, according to Apple. The company added that its suppliers have “pledged their full cooperation with the FLA,” and the assessments will include interviews with thousands of employees about “working and living conditions including health and safety, compensation, working hours and communication with management.”

      In January, The New York Times, “This American Life” and CBS News, among other news outlets, ran lengthy exposes on the Foxconn factories.

      The CBS piece gave considerable air time to New York performance artist Mike Daisey, whose one-man show, “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” focuses on the conditions at Foxconn, where he says more than half the world’s electronics are made.

      Daisey traveled to one of the factories, where outside its gates he met workers as young as 12-years-old and viewed netting the company had strung around employee dormitories, to dissuade suicide attempts. At least 17 employees have killed themselves since 2010, according to a number of different estimates.

      Most recently, in a Feb. 13 post on his blog, Daisey takes New York Times reporter David Pogue to task for his response to the situation, which included writing that “if Apple can pressure Foxconn to clean up its act, it should.”

      Writes Daisey:

      The ‘if’ is troubling. If? Apple is one of the most profitable companies in the history of the world, with $100 billion dollars sitting in the bank right now. Is there really a question that they might not be able to make their supplier come into compliance with local labor laws? If we can’t expect Apple to obey the law and do the right thing, if it is actually impossible … what should our expectations be for any corporation?

      Apple, in its statement, added that in January it became the first technology company admitted to the FLA, and that the results of its more than 500 factory audits over the last five years are available on its Web site at www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility.

      Michelle Maisto
      Michelle Maisto has been covering the enterprise mobility space for a decade, beginning with Knowledge Management, Field Force Automation and eCRM, and most recently as the editor-in-chief of Mobile Enterprise magazine. She earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and in her spare time obsesses about food. Her first book, The Gastronomy of Marriage, if forthcoming from Random House in September 2009.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×