Apple supplier Pegatron accused of excessive overtime, low wages & unsafe conditions at Shanghai fac
Despite pledges by Apple to improve labor conditions at its suppliers, a Pegatron factory in Shanghai is still paying low wages, allowing excessive amounts of overtime, and housing workers in poor conditions, according to China Labor Watch.
Before any overtime pay, workers at the factory make just $1.85 an hour, or $318 per month, the labor rights group said in a report issued on Thursday. Even with overtime, wages are typically said to come out to about $753 per month.
The factory in fact forces people to put in at least 20 hours of overtime per week. A trainer told CLW's undercover investigator that the standard Western work week -- eight hours a day, five days a week -- "does not conform to our hiring requirements."
Apple's official supplier guidelines require that people put in no more than 60 hours per week. Collecting paystubs from 76 workers in September, however, CLW found only 42 percent had worked 60 hours a week or less.
Conditions at the factory are meanwhile said to be dangerous, with no identifiable emergency exits and just 8 hours of safety training, below the Chinese legal requirement of 24 hours. Workers are encouraged to copy the answers to a safety quiz, and are forced to sign a form certifying that they've received 20 hours of training, even putting the trainer's name on the document. Apple is said to be given these falsified forms during audits.
Employees are warned about dangerous chemicals used during the manufacturing of products like iPhones and iPads, such as arsenic and mercury, but not told how they're used or how to safeguard against them.
CLW identifed a wide number of other problems as well, including dorms housing up to 14 people per room, contaminated by mold and bedbugs.
Some things have nevertheless improved somewhat since a 2013 investigation, including changes to sick leave and resignation policies. The factory also appears to have stopped discriminating against Tibetans and Uyghurs, dyed hair, or people over the age of 35.
Before any overtime pay, workers at the factory make just $1.85 an hour, or $318 per month, the labor rights group said in a report issued on Thursday. Even with overtime, wages are typically said to come out to about $753 per month.
The factory in fact forces people to put in at least 20 hours of overtime per week. A trainer told CLW's undercover investigator that the standard Western work week -- eight hours a day, five days a week -- "does not conform to our hiring requirements."
Apple's official supplier guidelines require that people put in no more than 60 hours per week. Collecting paystubs from 76 workers in September, however, CLW found only 42 percent had worked 60 hours a week or less.
Conditions at the factory are meanwhile said to be dangerous, with no identifiable emergency exits and just 8 hours of safety training, below the Chinese legal requirement of 24 hours. Workers are encouraged to copy the answers to a safety quiz, and are forced to sign a form certifying that they've received 20 hours of training, even putting the trainer's name on the document. Apple is said to be given these falsified forms during audits.
Employees are warned about dangerous chemicals used during the manufacturing of products like iPhones and iPads, such as arsenic and mercury, but not told how they're used or how to safeguard against them.
CLW identifed a wide number of other problems as well, including dorms housing up to 14 people per room, contaminated by mold and bedbugs.
Some things have nevertheless improved somewhat since a 2013 investigation, including changes to sick leave and resignation policies. The factory also appears to have stopped discriminating against Tibetans and Uyghurs, dyed hair, or people over the age of 35.
Comments
What??!!
Charges of abuse occurring at ""Apple's factories"" (oh yeah, that's right; "APPLE'S" factory)
, just days before earnings are reported??!
Oh wow. I'm TOTALLY shocked. TOTALLY /s /s /s
On cue. Apple earnings next week and here come the same old bad news stories. Tiresome.
The China government needs to be the enforcer, not Apple.
The 40 hour work week in the USA is LAUGHABLE!!! No one works 40 hours!!!! More like 50-60 hours at least, with ZERO overtime since many are salaried.
People need to remember that much of the factory work in seasonal - from August to Feb. So yes the workers may work 60+ hours a week but they WANT THE WORK because from March-July they won't have any work since most of the factory will be running at 50%.
IMO, if ADULTS want to work 70-80 hours a week they should be allowed to do it. If the difference is my kid's can eat then I'll work 70-80 hours a week for 6 months, and then rest for 6 months.
I've worked 10 hour days 7 days a week before. It sucks, yes. But if I can't get work 6 months out of the year I'm going to work my tail off the other 6 months.
CLW is always exaggerating. That is their job. Why do people work? They want make money. CLW conveniently ignore this common sense. Even without overtime, some people will find a second job like many in US do.
The China government needs to be the enforcer, not Apple.
The 40 hour work week in the USA is LAUGHABLE!!! No one works 40 hours!!!! More like 50-60 hours at least, with ZERO overtime since many are salaried.
People need to remember that much of the factory work in seasonal - from August to Feb. So yes the workers may work 60+ hours a week but they WANT THE WORK because from March-July they won't have any work since most of the factory will be running at 50%.
IMO, if ADULTS want to work 70-80 hours a week they should be allowed to do it. If the difference is my kid's can eat then I'll work 70-80 hours a week for 6 months, and then rest for 6 months.
I've worked 10 hour days 7 days a week before. It sucks, yes. But if I can't get work 6 months out of the year I'm going to work my tail off the other 6 months.
Some more enlightened countries enact laws to stop people working 80+ hours week after week after week. For example France with their 35 hour work week
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35-hour_workweek
Before that it was 39 hours. I was dobbed into the Authourities for working 60+ hours in a week to finish a project. They just gave a gallic shrug and went on their way because the law didn't apply to visitors to the county but that wasn't the point.
I have worked 60+ hours for months on end and it is not nice. It is no wonder that there is a lot of suicides amongst the type of worker employed at these factories. Most of them a literally thousands of miles from their families.
Perhaps Mr Sog35 you might like to go to China and get a job at one of these places. It might bring a modicum of humanity into your life.
Back to the topic. IMHO, Apple should just stop using Pegatron if they continue like this. An example needs to be made so that others can make sure that their workers are treated decently in future.
“according to China Labor Watch...” China Labor Watch has no credibility. They are politically motivated activists with an axe to grind. They spin the negative, they lie, they cheat, they steal just like very other radical activist outfit on the planet. They zero in on Apple because of the high profile of the company, period, just like Greenpeace. Everybody else gets a pass but they go after the one company who is actually trying to do something positive, just like Greenpeace.
I applaud them for finally ending their discrimination of people with dyed hair. This is without a doubt one of the great issues of our time. Wake up everybody! #dyedhairpeoplematter
I urge everybody on this site to donate and contribute to the global fund that has been set up so that we may completely eradicate this horrible and discriminatory practice.
I am the lead coordinator for this group, and I urge everybody here to join us next sunday for a "dye in" at various Apple stores nationwide, so that we may protest this abominable action and send a clear and urgent message to Apple . Our group pledges that at least 3% of all donated funds will go towards the cause. No less than 57% of the funds will go towards my salary of course.
Please people, I implore you, do not purchase any more Apple products. Thank you for your time.
In any event what drove you to work those sixty hour weeks? Seriously do you not think similar drive isn't shared by people in China? Are you some how special in this case? A lot of people do go to China to work, maybe not in the factories but they do go.
It wouldn't make any difference for the workers. In fact you would likely put some of them into worst environments.
Before we scream "lies oh t3h noes it's a sk4m!!1!1" let's wait to see Apple's response.
Apple is the one company (and maybe the only company) who has made a public pledge to try and improve things labor wise and they are savaged for it. What about the textile industry, the consumer electronics industry, the clothing industry, the steel industry, and every other Chinese industry that manufactures goods for the West? Never hear a peep about labor conditions in those segments. Just imagine the wages and working conditions of some poor chinaman making cheap shirts for Walmart, or the Chinese laborer using lead based paint on those cheap home accessories you find at Hobby Lobby or Pier 1, or Target, or every other big box U.S. retailer. Where’s China Labor Watch’s reports on those corporations?
The difference is these factory workers are not working 60+ hours for months on end. Their work is seasonal. Usually just from mid August to Late January. That's only about 4 months. For the rest of the year they don't work much and probably move back to the farm for 8 months. That's why they work so many hours. Thats the facts of life for seasonal workers.
So what do you want the factories to do? You want them to tell workers to work only 40 hours? Are you crazy? These workers need to make enough money in the 4 month period to pay bills for 12 months! Without the overtime work their children will starve or will be living on the street.
Please provide a verifiable reference that this work is "seasonal". Apple builds and sells iPhones and iPads year round. And Pegatron (or Foxconn or any other) make products for other companies (I think including Samsung) who have a different release schedules than does Apple.
Comparing this to fishermen or farmers who have a short season to do their years work is probably not valid. Most of these factory workers do NOT go back to the rural area they came from 8 months out of the year. They move to the cities and stay there based on what I've been reading (nothing specific lately, but I read a lot of China articles). I would bet that most of these are not seasonal workers, though some may be during specific "push" times.
I have worked 60+ hours for months on end and it is not nice. It is no wonder that there is a lot of suicides amongst the type of worker employed at these factories. Most of them a literally thousands of miles from their families.
Perhaps Mr Sog35 you might like to go to China and get a job at one of these places. It might bring a modicum of humanity into your life.
Oh, quit it with this whole bullshit suicide meme. The suicide rate at these factories is LOWER than US college campuses. Maybe, just MAYBE these people WANT to work, because thats the reason they're so far away from their families? There have been protests in the past by factory workers, whenever the hours were DECREASED, because these workers want to save up as much $$ as they can while they have those temporary positions, before going back home.
Yes, factory work is not the most fun job in the world, but that doesn't mean there's a direct correlation between working hours, and suicides. There's also a very high rate of suicide among actors, that pull in millions each year, and have the most glamorous jobs on the planet, loved by millions of people. There will always be people who are depressed, etc, and has nothing to do with their specific situation in life.
Last year Foxconn hired 100,000 new workers for the iPhone6 push.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Foxconn-hires-100000-workers-for-Apple-iPhone-6-assembly_id57420
Those were mostly seasonal workers. No way Foxconn needs that much staff after the holiday push
Nothing in that article says they are seasonal or on a limited contract. They may be, but I'd like verifiable data to go off of, not your assumptions.
Iphone manufacturing is year round and they manufacture other products. And even if they only work at Foxconn for 6 months, I'd bet they are not sitting back home on the farm or in their small rural town the other 6 months. They are moving to another factory to make something else on a different cycle during that time. Maybe not at Foxconn, but at Hui Mui Chui Tire factory, or where ever (I made that name as an example :-).
Some more enlightened countries enact laws to stop people working 80+ hours week after week after week. For example France with their 35 hour work week
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35-hour_workweek
Before that it was 39 hours. I was dobbed into the Authourities for working 60+ hours in a week to finish a project. They just gave a gallic shrug and went on their way because the law didn't apply to visitors to the county but that wasn't the point.
I have worked 60+ hours for months on end and it is not nice. It is no wonder that there is a lot of suicides amongst the type of worker employed at these factories. Most of them a literally thousands of miles from their families.
Perhaps Mr Sog35 you might like to go to China and get a job at one of these places. It might bring a modicum of humanity into your life.
Back to the topic. IMHO, Apple should just stop using Pegatron if they continue like this. An example needs to be made so that others can make sure that their workers are treated decently in future.
You are judging things from your point of view as a citizen of and living in a first world country. Of course it would be a horrible thought for you to imagine what it would be like living and working in the conditions described in the article. You have other, better choices. But what if you don't? What if your alternative is to remain in the countryside and live a life of subsistence poverty? How many hours a week do you think people people spend to scratch out a living when they live in subsistence poverty? Every waking moment of their lives is spent scratching out a living or looking for a way to scratch out a living.
This is not to say that thing's can't be made better. Of course the Chinese government should enforce their own labor codes. But Coolie wages and spartan (to put it mildly) treatment of laborers is a Chinese tradition from way back, communism certainly did not end it and no one company, no matter how much effort they put into it, will end it. The best they can do is move things into the right direction, and Apple has done better than any other company that hires Chinese contract manufacturers. Do not assign to companies the sins of the government.
It isn't the black-and-white issue that you see from your comfortable perch in the first world, judging standards based on your cushy first world life. Go to China, go to the cities, towns and villages where all these factory workers come from, try to live their (mostly dead end) lives there, talk to the factory workers themselves and ask them what they think, what's good, what's bad, what could be made better, and then make your high and mighty pronouncements. God dang self-righteous know-it-all first worlder.
God dang self-righteous know-it-all first worlder.
I have worked in many 3rd world countries over the years. From Russia in the time of Communism, China, various parts of sub-Sahara'n Africa and rural Brazil (up the Amazon) to many places in the Middle East, South Asia and Oceania. Far more than most people.
I have seen the rough with the smooth. I know only too well it is not all first world. Just the opposite. However there is no reason for an employer to treat workers as if they were slaves. China has made great strides sine I first went there (1975). It would not be the economic powerhouse it is today if it hadn't.
I worked for an American Company in the 1980's. The Boss was a quaker. His ethos on treating people with respect has stuck with me. Even today, I won't work with people who treat others with disrespect. I couldn't work in Saudi for this very reason. Keep your workers happy and they will do a better job than if they aren't. I am not religious but this phrase comes to mind. "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31)
The China government needs to be the enforcer, not Apple.
The 40 hour work week in the USA is LAUGHABLE!!! No one works 40 hours!!!! More like 50-60 hours at least, with ZERO overtime since many are salaried.
People need to remember that much of the factory work in seasonal - from August to Feb. So yes the workers may work 60+ hours a week but they WANT THE WORK because from March-July they won't have any work since most of the factory will be running at 50%.
IMO, if ADULTS want to work 70-80 hours a week they should be allowed to do it. If the difference is my kid's can eat then I'll work 70-80 hours a week for 6 months, and then rest for 6 months.
I've worked 10 hour days 7 days a week before. It sucks, yes. But if I can't get work 6 months out of the year I'm going to work my tail off the other 6 months.
Yep I agree it not Apple job to enforce labor laws in China it is the government of China job.
However, the government force outside company to enforce the laws because of the new results which is the Chinese company tell companies like Apple if they want them to follow the government rules they have to pay more for labor. It is blackmail for none Chinese companies, they either pay the higher wages or run the risk their name get run through the mud and/or pay fine to the Chinese government for using a company which does not follow the rules. For all those think Apple if horrible for these kind of things they need to understand how the game is played and this is purely a game now in China. This is how China is driving out wages without the government being the bad guy. If you have any doubt about this go work for a company who uses chinese manufacturing and see what happens on a daily bases.
To your other point so more than 40% worked more than 60 hours, did anyone ask them why. I bet most will say the same thing my son did when he found out he could work over time and they pay more for over time since he was not salary. The answer he gave how many more hours can he work. We ended up working more than 60 hours a week some days he work 14 hours with out a break not becuase they told him to, but because he wanted the hours and the cash in his hand. At the same time there were people worked with as soon as they 8 hours hit they could not get out the door fast enough. Because most were unwilling to put in a few extra hours in my son got most of the over time. Their lost his gain.
Some more enlightened countries enact laws to stop people working 80+ hours week after week after week. For example France with their 35 hour work week
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35-hour_workweek
Before that it was 39 hours. I was dobbed into the Authourities for working 60+ hours in a week to finish a project. They just gave a gallic shrug and went on their way because the law didn't apply to visitors to the county but that wasn't the point.
I have worked 60+ hours for months on end and it is not nice. It is no wonder that there is a lot of suicides amongst the type of worker employed at these factories. Most of them a literally thousands of miles from their families.
Perhaps Mr Sog35 you might like to go to China and get a job at one of these places. It might bring a modicum of humanity into your life.
Back to the topic. IMHO, Apple should just stop using Pegatron if they continue like this. An example needs to be made so that others can make sure that their workers are treated decently in future.
It sound like you're just lazy and afraid of hard work. So what you worked more than 60 hours did you get paid did you enjoy the extra money. Honesty because you do not want to work extra hours does not mean others in the world are not afraid to work hard and work extra hour. Next you need to educate yourself on how the labor laws work in the US and China and who had the responsibilities to enforce them. It does not matter who apple uses to make the product the outcome will be the same, it how the game is played in China and I have been there and been to some of these factories.
Also you can not compare China wages to US our costs are way higher. Also looking France they are a bunch of lazy people they not interested in working hard and get upset when the US is kicking their technology asses because we want to work more than 39 hours and not take off 6 weeks in the summar. Lastly China's economy is hurting so bad that have the largest middle class in the world today and they all want to buy expensive Apple products. Yeah they are being over worked that is for sure.