Apple supplier Pegatron under fire after 'several' more employee deaths, including alleged child wor
The recent unexplained deaths of 'at least five' workers -- including a 15-year-old-boy -- employed at mainland Chinese factories owned by contract manufacturer Pegatron have once again shone a spotlight on labor practices at the OEM.
Worker prepares iPhone for final assembly. | Source: Apple Supplier Responsibility Report
One worker, Shi Zhaokun, was just 15 years old but was hired at a Pegatron plant in Shanghai after producing forged identity documents that said he was 20, according to a report from The New York Times. After one month in the factory, which manufactures Apple's iPhone 5c, Shi died of pneumonia in a Shanghai hospital.
Both Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct and Chinese labor law stipulate that workers must be at least 16 years old and may not work more than 60 hours per week, both regulations that are alleged to have been breached by Pegatron. Time sheets provided to the Times by Shi's family are stamped for an average of 77 hours each week, and while Pegatron did not dispute the documents' validity, the manufacturer did note that the logs do not include break time.
Shi's death is the latest in a string of Pegatron worker fatalities this year, and Chinese labor activists believe the deaths are related to working conditions at the company's factories. Pegatron has denied that accusation, but did acknowledge the deaths.
Pegatron was also accused of similar violations earlier this year. In July, following an "undercover" investigation by labor activist group China Labor Watch, reports surfaced that workers were often forced to exceed the 60-hour-per-week cap and some were docked pay for working shorter shifts.
"Their latest report contains claims that are new to us and we will investigate them immediately," Apple said of China Labor Watch at the time. "If our audits find that workers have been underpaid or denied compensation for any time they've worked, we will require that Pegatron reimburse them in full."
Worker prepares iPhone for final assembly. | Source: Apple Supplier Responsibility Report
One worker, Shi Zhaokun, was just 15 years old but was hired at a Pegatron plant in Shanghai after producing forged identity documents that said he was 20, according to a report from The New York Times. After one month in the factory, which manufactures Apple's iPhone 5c, Shi died of pneumonia in a Shanghai hospital.
Both Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct and Chinese labor law stipulate that workers must be at least 16 years old and may not work more than 60 hours per week, both regulations that are alleged to have been breached by Pegatron. Time sheets provided to the Times by Shi's family are stamped for an average of 77 hours each week, and while Pegatron did not dispute the documents' validity, the manufacturer did note that the logs do not include break time.
Shi's death is the latest in a string of Pegatron worker fatalities this year, and Chinese labor activists believe the deaths are related to working conditions at the company's factories. Pegatron has denied that accusation, but did acknowledge the deaths.
Pegatron was also accused of similar violations earlier this year. In July, following an "undercover" investigation by labor activist group China Labor Watch, reports surfaced that workers were often forced to exceed the 60-hour-per-week cap and some were docked pay for working shorter shifts.
"Their latest report contains claims that are new to us and we will investigate them immediately," Apple said of China Labor Watch at the time. "If our audits find that workers have been underpaid or denied compensation for any time they've worked, we will require that Pegatron reimburse them in full."
Comments
I think they just won the Putz Prize.
I've got a pneumonia few month ago with other co-workers at my office, should I report this to the news?
Yes, but only if your office job involves assembling shoes.
At the rate we are going Apple will be blamed for the next huge Asian bird flue outbreak.
"Pegatron counts Apple and Google Inc as its major clients for tablets and smartphones." (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2013/03/06/2003556362)
Did the times mention Google in their article?............who am I kidding.
Isn't Pegatron in the new transformer's movie? I believe his ability is to assemble new transformers in record time
Google is supposedly a "major client" of Pegatron but only Apple's products are promoted in your link? Who am I kidding.
and some were docked pay for working shorter shifts.
If I went home early from my job and didn't do the required hours, I'd also have my wages docked.
He forged an ID. C'mon, Pegatron has 70,000 employes (quick internet search) so they must have hundreds of new starters a week. Are they really going to double check every new starter?
1.6 million people a year die from Pneumonia. 1 of them happens to make a product for Apple amongst others, makes the news.
Nonsense. Google is saintly.
People die, how shocking! Stop the presses!
How many people will die globally today? A shitload, that's how many.
Some will get sick, some will get murdered, some will die in car crashes, maybe some will fall off of a cliff. Things happen.
If this unfortunate young man's pneumonia, a disease caused by viral or bacterial infection, was Pegatron's fault, how many employees working nearby also became sick or died?
What killed the other four employees? How many deaths were directly work-related?
What percentage of Pegatron employees died of directly work-related causes?
How does this figure relate to Chinese norms?
How does this figure relate to American norms?
Not excusing Pegatron, just trying to get some answers to obvious questions that were not provided by this sad, fact-deficient story from a once great journalistic institution.
Sad news. Now when i use my iphone this news pops into my mind... Have to get over with it.
Sounds like pegatron should answer these questions. Apple has nothing to do with there policies. And as many others have said here the unfortunate young man died of pneumonia. Not work related. Heck last spring I worked 65 hour weeks for 3 months because of backlog at my workplace. No one ever said I was being abused lol. The New York Times needs to get a new shtick. They are desperate to find any way they can to bash Apple in there articles. If this is the best investigative journalism that company can come up with they should fire there entire staff and start over.
If I went home early from my job and didn't do the required hours, I'd also have my wages docked.
He forged an ID. C'mon, Pegatron has 70,000 employes (quick internet search) so they must have hundreds of new starters a week. Are they really going to double check every new starter?
1.6 million people a year die from Pneumonia. 1 of them happens to make a product for Apple amongst others, makes the news.
But the hours this kid worked were illegal and in violation of Apple's agreement with the company as to the maximum number of hours an employee should work. If the kid was exhausted, while that wouldn't cause pneumonia all by itself, if the kid got the flu or a bad cold, it would suppress his immune system, which could lead to pneumonia. And if there were polluted conditions in the factory, like dust or other particulates, that would definitely exacerbate the pneumonia. Also, once the kid got sick, he was probably afraid to take any time off, so he wound up with pneumonia.
Just as a (U.S.) bar can lose its license for serving minors even if they entered with fake IDs, the factory has a responsibility to make sure under-age workers aren't employed. They should be doing double checks on employees, especially those who look young. This wasn't a news story because the kid died of pneumonia. It was a news story because he was underage and shouldn't have been working in the factory in the first place, because he worked more than the allotted hours and possibly partially as a result, he died of pneumonia. In addition, he's not the only recent death at the factory.
The "attack the messenger" posts in this thread and the defense of the factory just because people happen to like Apple's products is absurd. If this were a Microsoft factory people would be all over it.
There is a simple solution to the problem at Apple contractor factories: Apple should have a permanent supervisor at each major contractor. But they won't do that because in the end, they want to escape responsibility for anything that happens at these factories. And I also have a feeling, although no facts to back it up, that at least in part, some of the poor conditions at these factories is because Apple forces these manufacturers to work on extremely small margins (similar to the way that WalMart forces their suppliers to sell to them for little margin). Therefore, the factories try to make it up in other ways: underpaying employees, forcing them to work extra hours, harsh working conditions, etc.
But we have to have our iPhones and iPads and we don't want to pay more for them so screw the workers who make them. Talk about apartheid.
But the hours this kid worked were illegal and in violation of Apple's agreement with the company as to the maximum number of hours an employee should work. If the kid was exhausted, while that wouldn't cause pneumonia all by itself, if the kid got the flu or a bad cold, it would suppress his immune system, which could lead to pneumonia. And if there were polluted conditions in the factory, like dust or other particulates, that would definitely exacerbate the pneumonia. Also, once the kid got sick, he was probably afraid to take any time off, so he wound up with pneumonia.
Just as a (U.S.) bar can lose its license for serving minors even if they entered with fake IDs, the factory has a responsibility to make sure under-age workers aren't employed. They should be doing double checks on employees, especially those who look young. This wasn't a news story because the kid died of pneumonia. It was a news story because he was underage and shouldn't have been working in the factory in the first place, because he worked more than the allotted hours and possibly partially as a result, he died of pneumonia. In addition, he's not the only recent death at the factory.
The "attack the messenger" posts in this thread and the defense of the factory just because people happen to like Apple's products is absurd. If this were a Microsoft factory people would be all over it.
There is a simple solution to the problem at Apple contractor factories: Apple should have a permanent supervisor at each major contractor. But they won't do that because in the end, they want to escape responsibility for anything that happens at these factories. And I also have a feeling, although no facts to back it up, that at least in part, some of the poor conditions at these factories is because Apple forces these manufacturers to work on extremely small margins (similar to the way that WalMart forces their suppliers to sell to them for little margin). Therefore, the factories try to make it up in other ways: underpaying employees, forcing them to work extra hours, harsh working conditions, etc.
But we have to have our iPhones and iPads and we don't want to pay more for them so screw the workers who make them. Talk about apartheid.
Been to a fast food place lately?They thrive on what would be considered underaged workers in China.
Of the 1.78 people estimated to die every second there is a strong probability that deaths have occurred among the workers in the chain where you buy your lunch.
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/About_HFC/Death_Rate/death_rate.html
Hope I didn't ruin your appetite.