Apple's iPhone touchscreen supplier faces violent employee strike
More than 2,000 workers at a Wintek Corp. factory in Suzhou, China, have gone on strike and destroyed equipment at their factory, potentially straining the supply of parts for Apple's iPhone.
According to China Daily, factory workers last week damaged equipment and vehicles in response to a number of alleged deaths from overexposure to toxic chemicals. Employees said they did not accept the local government's investigation into the matter. Bloomberg reported that the factory is a component supplier for the iPhone.
On Friday, workers gathered in the morning and caused damage at the Suzhou Industrial Park. They also blocked off a road and threw rocks at police, though no casualties were reported.
Various reports said that the workers were reacting to rumors of a canceled 2009 bonus, but one worker told China Daily the matter was not solely about money.
"What we feel angry about is the company authorities' apathy to our workers' health," said a worker named Zhu. He also added that employees have been overworked and underpaid.
Employees said there was a strong smell at the factory that they believe caused the deaths of four workers. One man, Li Liang, was found to have died of congenital heart disease -- a diagnosis his co-workers do not believe.
The employees believe the deaths are attributed to an overexposure to hexane, a toxic chemical used to clean touchscreen panels at the factory. Hexane can cause nervous system failure in humans.
Apple's overseas manufacturing partners have been the subject of much scrutiny over the years. Last July, an audit of Apple's partners in mainland China found that 45 of 83 factories that built iPhones and iPods in 2008 weren't paying valid overtime rates for those workers that qualified. In addition, 23 of those factories weren't even paying some of their workers China's minimum wage.
Last summer, Apple and manufacturing partner Foxconn made headlines after an alleged prototype 4G iPhone went missing from one of the company's factories. After an employee was questioned about the matter, he reportedly committed suicide.
In 2006, Apple audited Foxconn over the working conditions at its Chinese factories, after reports surfaced in a British newspaper about poor working conditions. The Cupertino, Calif., company issued a report on iPod manufacturing, which found no instances of forced overtime, but did find that some employees worked longer than the 60-hour weekly maximum.
According to China Daily, factory workers last week damaged equipment and vehicles in response to a number of alleged deaths from overexposure to toxic chemicals. Employees said they did not accept the local government's investigation into the matter. Bloomberg reported that the factory is a component supplier for the iPhone.
On Friday, workers gathered in the morning and caused damage at the Suzhou Industrial Park. They also blocked off a road and threw rocks at police, though no casualties were reported.
Various reports said that the workers were reacting to rumors of a canceled 2009 bonus, but one worker told China Daily the matter was not solely about money.
"What we feel angry about is the company authorities' apathy to our workers' health," said a worker named Zhu. He also added that employees have been overworked and underpaid.
Employees said there was a strong smell at the factory that they believe caused the deaths of four workers. One man, Li Liang, was found to have died of congenital heart disease -- a diagnosis his co-workers do not believe.
The employees believe the deaths are attributed to an overexposure to hexane, a toxic chemical used to clean touchscreen panels at the factory. Hexane can cause nervous system failure in humans.
Apple's overseas manufacturing partners have been the subject of much scrutiny over the years. Last July, an audit of Apple's partners in mainland China found that 45 of 83 factories that built iPhones and iPods in 2008 weren't paying valid overtime rates for those workers that qualified. In addition, 23 of those factories weren't even paying some of their workers China's minimum wage.
Last summer, Apple and manufacturing partner Foxconn made headlines after an alleged prototype 4G iPhone went missing from one of the company's factories. After an employee was questioned about the matter, he reportedly committed suicide.
In 2006, Apple audited Foxconn over the working conditions at its Chinese factories, after reports surfaced in a British newspaper about poor working conditions. The Cupertino, Calif., company issued a report on iPod manufacturing, which found no instances of forced overtime, but did find that some employees worked longer than the 60-hour weekly maximum.
Comments
And they have a minimum wage?
And they have audits? I thought all the companies were owned by the government.
I did not even know China cared about it's people...
And they have a minimum wage?
And they have audits? I thought all the companies were owned by the government.
Yes, yes and no.
China is really only a socialist state in name only. It's actually more comparable to the Great Britain during the first industrial revolution, with a non-democratic government thrown into the mix (Fortunately, the government is a lot more benevolent nowadays).
So they make Apple sell outrageously expensive wifi-less iPhones and set up poor working conditions for riots at Apple's primary manufacturers.
And I'm willing to bet the mole who stole the prototype iPhone was working for the Chinese government and his murder was made to look like a suicide so he wouldn't talk.
Hopefully they'll fight for pay and health & environmental improvements, raising the cost of doing business (but also protecting people and the environment) and creating a more level playing field for global workers.
And then businesses will move their factories to the next cheapest place they can exploit workers.
Still, bit of a worry if there's chemicals that can't be better managed with exhaust flues or perhaps the use of robots to handle that part of the production process.
Hope the management is able to work to arbitrate and keep people safe, but still with lots of work.
I disagree with strikes due to crazy wage claims often (you know where prices might go up 3% but wage demands of 26% are made) but at the end of the day all most people really want is fairness and to go home safe at night.
Historically you always get this tension between labour and capital, where capital wants to pay less and labour want more.
Still, bit of a worry if there's chemicals that can't be better managed with exhaust flues or perhaps the use of robots to handle that part of the production process.
Hope the management is able to work to arbitrate and keep people safe, but still with lots of work.
I disagree with strikes due to crazy wage claims often (you know where prices might go up 3% but wage demands of 26% are made) but at the end of the day all most people really want is fairness and to go home safe at night.
I know this is a foreign concept to western countries where human life and conditions are valuable, but in most parts of the world, human life is extremely cheap and disposable.
The problem is when people get to be too numerous in a area, their needs and wants get to be too overwhelming. The human animal is happiest in small groups, where they can deal with each others needs, not large congregations.
So what happens in a setting like this large factory, the owner is disconnected from the workers and their conditions, using people like tools to be thrown away when broken and replaced. A business owner is usually constantly focusing on the bottom line, trying to maximize profits because he (or she) doesn't know what the next unexpected cost will arise and threaten their carefully laid plans. So they tend to cut corners and try to find ways of doing things without spending money. The purpose of business is to make money after all.
So apparently this business owner pushed things a bit too far and now has lost substantial capital and resources. Of course adequate supervision by qualified state supervisors would have averted this mess, knowing from other work projects that causing human misery will result in chaos. Thus I suspect it was allowed to continue in order to drive American businesses out of the Chinese market.
What people don't seem to want to see is that one day we will have to pay the price, and the longer we wait, the more painful it's going to be.
Step 1: Labor is cheap in the US because there are no governmental controls on conditions for workers
Step 2: Domestic labor wants a taste of its own success by demanding better working conditions
Step 3: Government goes too far and makes it too expensive to produce products domestically
Step 3: US outsources labor to foreign countries because it is cheaper
Step 4: Foreign laborers demand better conditions, which increases cost, closing the gap between domestic and foreign production
Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part...who knows?
Maybe from all of this the world will end up with common labor standards, but I suspect this will take generations.
... China is really only a socialist state in name only. It's actually more comparable to the Great Britain during the first industrial revolution, with a non-democratic government thrown into the mix (Fortunately, the government is a lot more benevolent nowadays).
This is not true. China's current setup is almost textbook Fascism. Great Britain has never been that close to a Fascist state.
I know this is a foreign concept to western countries where human life and conditions are valuable......
There you go again with your condescending politico-social babble. Perhaps it's just that 'human life and conditions' are cheap everywhere for less well-off segments of society?
Do you want me to mention the many instances even in a country such as the US where this is the case? How about starting by googling the name 'Anthony Sowell'? Does that bespeak what US's approach to 'human life and conditions' are? Of course not.
I did not even know China cared about it's people...
And they have a minimum wage?
And they have audits? I thought all the companies were owned by the government.
Wow. Never heard of a thing called 'newspapers' either, I suppose.
Just get me my next generation iPhone. Back to work.
Don't play the ignorant American role, you're giving others a bad name.
Apple should just bring the manufacturing back to the US and set an example for the thousands of other US-based companies that produce in China, while we have to deal with a 10% unemployment rate.
What people don't seem to want to see is that one day we will have to pay the price, and the longer we wait, the more painful it's going to be.
That's a noble thought but, would you also be willing to pay 3-4 times what you pay now for Apple products? Because that is exactly what would happen to their pricing and any company's pricing if they had to pay US minimum wage and pay health benefits and provide a retirement plan and have safe working conditions where employees weren't exposed to lethal amounts of hexane. I mean, why do you think EVERYTHING in your house is made in China?
Don't play the ignorant American role, you're giving others a bad name.
Who said I'm American?
Apple should just bring the manufacturing back to the US and set an example for the thousands of other US-based companies that produce in China, while we have to deal with a 10% unemployment rate.
What people don't seem to want to see is that one day we will have to pay the price, and the longer we wait, the more painful it's going to be.
Jobs in America would certainly be great. But who, exactly, would be building this component? Zenith? Magnavox? Sylvania?