Apple supplier accused of labor violations in producing new 'iPhone 5C'

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Watchdog organization China Labor Watch has accused Apple supplier Jabil Circuit of committing labor violations at a Chinese factory that is allegedly producing the "iPhone 5C."

Audit
Worker prepares iPhone for final assembly. | Source: Apple Supplier Responsibility Report


In a new report published on Thursday, China Labor Watch revealed "a series of ethical and legal labor violations in a factory in Wuxi, China." According to the organization, that factory is owned by Florida-based Jabil Circuit.

China Labor Watch claims that workers at the factory are owed "millions of dollars in unpaid overtime wages." It was also said that employees have over 100 hours of monthly mandatory overtime ? three times the legal limit.

Workers at the factory are also said to see more than 11 hours of standing work every day, with no rest outside of 30-minute meal breaks. Finally, China Labor Watch also accused the factory of inadequate training and hiring discrimination.

"Despite half a decade of outside investigations and self-reporting on myriad labor abuse throughout its Chinese supply chain, Apple has continually failed to compel supplier factories to conform to Apple's code of conduct and local labor laws before giving these suppliers Apple production orders."

Jabil, which is based in St. Petersburg, Fla., has previously been identified as a U.S.-based Apple supplier. Criticism of Apple's China-based supplier factories is not new, but has traditionally been focused on companies like Foxconn and Pegatron, not Jabil.

China Labor Watch has publicly called out Apple before for alleged labor violations. One report from the organization published in July prompted a response from Apple, as the company vowed to investigate the reports.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    China Labor Watch has publicly called out Apple before for alleged labor violations.

    And, just like the last time, Apple is the only major US company that takes the matter seriously and does anything about it.
  • Reply 2 of 18
    dnd0psdnd0ps Posts: 253member
    Is that a gold iPhone I see?
  • Reply 3 of 18
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member

    So, did they report it to Apple or the press first?

  • Reply 4 of 18
    Maybe Apple should investigate China Labor Watch for being the leak of all their product stuff out of China. They are inside everywhere "investigating" and "reporting".
  • Reply 5 of 18
    Just in time.
    I was expecting %u2026
  • Reply 6 of 18
    "Despite half a decade of outside investigations and self-reporting on myriad labor abuse throughout its Chinese supply chain, Apple has continually failed to compel supplier factories to conform to Apple's code of conduct and local labor laws before giving these suppliers Apple production orders."

    Or...

    Despite all the labor abuse in China, the Chinese government has continually failed to enforce local labor laws.

    Put blame where blame is due.
  • Reply 7 of 18
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dnd0ps View Post



    Is that a gold iPhone I see?

    No that looks like a yellow 5C, you can tell by the raised metal inside the frame that is reflected by the light in the area and by looking at 5C leaked internal frame images. The "Gold" iPhone is really more of a champagne silver.

  • Reply 8 of 18
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post





    And, just like the last time, Apple is the only major US company that takes the matter seriously and does anything about it.

    That's right. Since it's not possible to watch all your suppliers 24/7, the measure of an ethical company can't be whether these things happen or not. The measure has to be: what they do about it when it's discovered.

  • Reply 9 of 18
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    And I'll bet my social security check that factories that manufacture for Chinese brands don't get this kind of scrutiny.

  • Reply 10 of 18
    " Apple has continually failed to compel supplier factories to conform to Apple's code of conduct and local labor laws before giving these suppliers Apple production orders."

    For an un-announced phone that has yet to be delivered or maybe even produced, Apple is in VIOLATION of labor laws in a country that IT does not build in (chinese company not american). And these so called violations would be in violation of Apples contract requirements.

    So maybe next we need to have people start complaining about what people might think about something not yet said in reference to an event not yet happening... ???????

    Just a weird thought.
  • Reply 11 of 18
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by darkdefender View Post

     

    No that looks like a yellow 5C, you can tell by the raised metal inside the frame that is reflected by the light in the area and by looking at 5C leaked internal frame images. The "Gold" iPhone is really more of a champagne silver.


    It's neither. It's a picture lifted from here. You think Apple would post pictures of unreleased products on that page?

  • Reply 12 of 18
    Look at that.

    A press release just in time for the September 10 annoucement.

    What timely investigators they have.

    They should have waited until the 9th.
  • Reply 13 of 18

    Considering they get to work on Apple products who cares about working conditions ?! If they want a cushy job then go work for a copy-cat outfit making android junk.

  • Reply 14 of 18
    Lol wow...Apple's already accused of labor violations for a product that doesn't even officially exist yet! That's pretty impressive. I bet somehow Samscum is behind that.
  • Reply 15 of 18
    China Labor Watch should be under investigation for not paying their workers.

    From the 2012 annual report:

    Donations
    We are grateful for the support of almost 60 individual donators in 2012, most hailing from
    Europe and North America. Their donations have allowed us to investigate more factories and
    assist more workers in defending their rights.

    Board of Directors
    Dorothy J. Solinger, professor of political science at the University of California at Irvine
    William J. Hurst, assistant professor of Asian studies at the University of Texas at Austin
    Tom Deluca, Founder and CEO of CCI Consulting

    New York Staff
    Li Qiang, Founder and Executive Director
    Kevin Slaten, Program Coordinator

    Volunteers and Interns
    Bessie Zhang
    Justin McDonnell
    Greg Fay
    Momo Ren
    Fengyin Lin
    Yanlin Cai
    Leo Liu
    Yuan Fan
    Xiaoou Huang
    Yuting Zhu
    Adam Supraner
    Chuchu Song

    So it looks like most of the staff is volunteers and interns, except Mr Li Quiang who lives the good life in NYC, USA.

    How can a handful of volunteers and interns review all the factories in China?

    I am all for improved working conditions for Chinese workers, but I suspect this China Labor Watch is really a sham organization for Mr Li Quiang to blackmail companies into making donations. Like the Rainbow Coalition.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    msimpson wrote: »
    China Labor Watch should be under investigation for not paying their workers.

    From the 2012 annual report:

    The annual report is interesting:
    http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/pdf/2012Annualreportv2.pdf

    Note, for example, that Apple's suppliers are accused of up to 180 hours of forced overtime while Samsung's suppliers AND PLANTS OWNED AND OPERATED BY SAMSUNG had up to 220 hours of forced overtime.

    Yet, it's Apple who gets the bad press while there are no press releases about Samsung.

    ETA:

    Oops. I stand corrected. There have been a number of reports about Samsung. For example:
    http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-448.html

    Or, my favorite:
    http://blog.laptopmag.com/china-labor-watch-samsung-allegedly-copies-apples-labor-abuses-too

    It's not China Labor Watch who is ignoring Samsung, it's just the mainstream media who only cares when it's Apple.
  • Reply 17 of 18
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    guytoronto wrote: »
    "Despite half a decade of outside investigations and self-reporting on myriad labor abuse throughout its Chinese supply chain, Apple has continually failed to compel supplier factories to conform to Apple's code of conduct and local labor laws before giving these suppliers Apple production orders."

    Or...

    Despite all the labor abuse in China, the Chinese government has continually failed to enforce local labor laws.

    Put blame where blame is due.

    That is certainly true, but don't hold your breath for it to be fixed.

    The rules limiting overtime were set up in China to create jobs. They don't care about human rights, it's all about getting as many people working as possible. By limiting overtime, the number of workers is increased.

    However, that is no longer necessary. Skilled labor is actually largely at full employment in China (although there are still a lot of unskilled people without jobs). So if China were to enforce the overtime rules, they would reduce plant output - which is the driver for their economy. It's easier to simply ignore the rules than to change them.
  • Reply 18 of 18
    realisticrealistic Posts: 1,154member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Watchdog organization China Labor Watch has accused Apple supplier Jabil Circuit of committing labor violations at a Chinese factory that is allegedly producing the "iPhone 5C."

     
    Audit

    Worker prepares iPhone for final assembly. | Source: Apple Supplier Responsibility Report





    In a new report published on Thursday, China Labor Watch revealed "a series of ethical and legal labor violations in a factory in Wuxi, China." According to the organization, that factory is owned by Florida-based Jabil Circuit.



    China Labor Watch claims that workers at the factory are owed "millions of dollars in unpaid overtime wages." It was also said that employees have over 100 hours of monthly mandatory overtime ? three times the legal limit.



    Workers at the factory are also said to see more than 11 hours of standing work every day, with no rest outside of 30-minute meal breaks. Finally, China Labor Watch also accused the factory of inadequate training and hiring discrimination.



    "Despite half a decade of outside investigations and self-reporting on myriad labor abuse throughout its Chinese supply chain, Apple has continually failed to compel supplier factories to conform to Apple's code of conduct and local labor laws before giving these suppliers Apple production orders."



    Jabil, which is based in St. Petersburg, Fla., has previously been identified as a U.S.-based Apple supplier. Criticism of Apple's China-based supplier factories is not new, but has traditionally been focused on companies like Foxconn and Pegatron, not Jabil.



    China Labor Watch has publicly called out Apple before for alleged labor violations. One report from the organization published in July prompted a response from Apple, as the company vowed to investigate the reports.

    Now AI is lifting pictures from Apple's own website to use as illustration in articles when some other company reports an unproven allegation about a labor violation. This is a new low for AI . Also how or why should APPLE compel a company to conform to Apple's standards when making products for a different company?

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