Thursday, February 17, 2011

Apple Fixes Some Problems in the Factories

About a month ago word got out that workers in China had gone to Apple complaining about work conditions and asking for better treatment. At that time Apple had nothing to say but in recent news Apple has partially cleaned up its act. After undercover inspectors went into several factories they found a few things that needed to be taken care of. First, there were violations of child labor laws. “Apple found that 91 children were working at 10 of its suppliers' Chinese plants.” In China, a person has to be at least 16 to have a job and these children had gained fake documents so that they could work. Apple ended its relationship with the factories that had used children to work on products. Not only did Apple fix the problem with kids working in their factories, but they also made conditions better in some of their factories. In a Wintek plant the workers were using a toxic solvent called n-hexane because it was more efficient and they thought they would get ahead. Apple has stopped the use of the toxic solvent as well as fixed ventilation problems in the factories. Lastly, Apple has fixed problems with its employees working overtime for shortened pay. Overall, Apple is trying to fix its many problems but is it for the right reasons? In our society child labor is frowned upon as well as poor working conditions and unfair wages. Apple may not have the workers in mind as much as they have the people who purchase their products in mind.


http://www.dailytech.com/Apples+Labor+Report+Finds+Lot+of+Abuses+But+Praises+Foxconn/article20922.htm

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