The news coming out of China of ten suicide deaths at Foxconn industrial park is terribly distressing. All of the workers who committed suicide were recent high school or vocational training school graduates between the ages of 18 and 24. One of the fatalities, Sun Danyong, jumped to his death after being interrogated over a missing iPhone prototype. Foxconn, the makers of Apple iPhones and iPads, is now under international scrutiny for its working conditions and the news is not good. Not surprisingly, Apple (and other companies that purchase Foxconn products such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard) are also under intense scrutiny regarding their enforcement of supplier codes of conduct.
An Apple spokesman stated today that "a team from Apple is independently evaluating the steps they are taking to address these tragic events and we will continue our ongoing inspections of the facilities where our products are made." Sounds good.
But it made me wonder what Apple has done prior to these tragedies to promote labor standards. The news isn't pretty. Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct is acceptable enough, limiting working hours to 60 hours per week (including overtime), requiring minimum wage and benefits consistent with local laws, and clean and safe dormitories with adequate heat, ventilation, personal space, and entry and exit privileges.
So does the reality match the rhetoric? When social auditors examined factory compliance, they found distressing news. Only 46% of their audited suppliers comply with Apple's working hours requirements. This means a majority of Apple's audited suppliers violate the 60 hour work week. Here's what Apple's 2010 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report says:
"At 60 facilities [of the 102 audited], we found records that indicated workers had exceeded weekly work-hour limits more than 50 percent of the time. Similarly, at 65 [of the 102] facilities, more than half of the records we reviewed indicated that workers had worked more than six consecutive days at least once per month. To address these issues, we required each facility to develop management systems--or improve existing systems--to drive compliance with Apple's limits on work hours and required days of rest."
Second, according to the report, 65% of the audited factories comply with the local minimum wage and benefit laws. In other words, one-third of Apple's audited suppliers pay their employees below the minimum wages required by the local law. According to the report:
"At 48 of the [102] facilities audited, we found that overtime wages had been calculated improperly, resulting in underpayment of overtime wages. At 24 facilities, our auditors found that workers had been paid less than minimum wage for regular working hours.... Another common violation we found was underpayment of legally required benefits. We found 57 facilities with deficient payments in work benefits such as sick leave, maternity leave, or social insurance for retirement."
Finally, the audit revealed a 51% compliance rate with respect to management accountability and responsibility. In other words, almost half of Apple's audited suppliers do not evidence a commitment to corporate social responsibility. According to the report:
Our audits revealed 55 facilities [of the 102 audited] that did not have dedicated personnel accountable for compliance with all categories of Apple's Code. Apple required the facilities to appoint qualified personnel, ensuring that responsibility and accountability for compliance are included in their job descriptions. These job descriptions include ownership of a process for correcting deficiencies identified by internal and external audits, written corrective action procedures, and verification of the completion of appropriate actions.
Apple's report states that it "is committed to ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility throughout our supply base." Today an Apple spokesman stated that the company is "saddened and upset" by the suicides and that Apple was determined to ensure that Foxconn workers were treated with respect and dignity. But if you scratch beneath the surface, Apple's own social audit report paints a different picture of its suppliers. It is a picture of employees who are routinely being underpaid, overworked, and poorly supervised.
what you fail to mention is that apple is the FIRST company to even require this type of 'code of conduct'. you say that only 46% of apple suppliers adhere to this code of conduct. wow—really?
you're bashing apple because only 46% of their suppliers adhere to this NEVER BEFORE set of requirements in ANY industry of ANY company that employs workers overseas.
let me get this straight. basically, you're bashing apple for improving working conditions for these people, because prior to apple coming on the scene, these suppliers weren't required to do dick.
in an ideal world, everyone would comply 100%. once again, apple is leading the way to improving work conditions for folks overseas. have you or anyone else who is crying about apple EVER consider that a contributing factor to this is external? like, say, a repressive government? imagine that. but no, you and your ilk blame apple for the entire mess.
i'd also like to know why you decided not to highlight the requirements for dell and hewlett packard. do you even know if these companies (who have been doing business with foxconn—YEARS before apple—even have a 'code of conduct' they require of their suppliers?
An excellent piece, however there is one piece of the puzzle that is missing, and that is the story of the 100 line workers hospitalized while using n-Hexane to clean the iTouch screens, the fumes at Wintek's Suzhou facility this year.
It is believed that the issue began in the summer of 2009, and did not surface until a strike over unpaid wages took place at the same factory exposed the issue.
Apple made no mention of this in their reports, made no public statement on the issue, and largely escaped the bullet because at the time the press was about their use of underage workers.
Its supply chain is toxic.
r
www.collectiveresponsibility.org
Mr Alford;for your next piece,how about revealing the life(or lack thereof) for the American workers who have to compete against this warped ideology and have it constantly pushed in our faces that our jobs can and will end up over there.
Probably should buy another electronic gadget and keep this cycle alive...yeah,right.
It's worth considering. America's insight into how this process will result in the long-term destruction of its economy is at about the level of an ostrich sticking its head in the sand. Sure, money will be made, but only at the top.