The Underlying Problem in the whole Apple underage workers story (that the MSM ignores)

[marmar]

from the WorkingLife blog:



IPhone Worker Abuse?
by Jonathan Tasini

Monday 01 of March, 2010


Yours truly is the new owner of an IPhone but this is not a discussion of the pros and cons of the device (the jury is still out). But, the cool company has got some issues about the treatment of its workers:

The Cupertino, Calif., company, in a report posted to its Web site, said three facilities had hired a total of 11 employees prior to reaching the legal working age in those countries. Some of the workers were as young as 15 years old, Apple said. At the time of the audit, the workers were either no longer underage or employed by the contractors. Apple didn't name the suppliers or identify in which countries the infractions of its policies occurred.

The document summarizes the results of on-site audits of 102 facilities and says roughly 133,000 workers, supervisors and managers have been trained as part of its program. This is the fourth year Apple has audited the work practices of its suppliers, a practice that started in 2006 after reports of worker abuses at Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.'s Foxconn, a Chinese manufacturer that assembled iPods for Apple.

One can theorize that the unnamed countries are in Asia where underage employment is pretty typical. The fact that Apple disclosed the issues on its website says something about the increased scrutiny forced on companies by independent groups. That said, I think we have to take with a grain of salt the monitoring that goes on--it is inconceivable that the auditing catches anything but a small fraction of the abuses. We can't even effectively and comprehensively track and enforce workplace safety in this country.

The underlying issue is not auditing and enforcement. It is that we have an economic system, here and around the world, that encourages substandard wages and abusive working conditions. Until we change that, we won't stop the abuses.


http://www.workinglife.org/blogs/view_post.php?content_id=14735

[onehandle]

1. Apple exposed the abuses. Being discussed here ---->

Few companies would investigate their own vendors.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4288901

[jgraz]

2. Nothing that couldn't be solved with restoration of heavy import tariffs

Give them a choice of paying their labor or paying the government. I'm guessing most companies will go with the quality labor that higher wages and better working conditions attract.

[Edweird]

3. You make a very loud point. One I happen to agree with. K&R.

[ncteechur]

4. I do not believe that Apple would knowingly employ underage workers.

That isn't their style.

[marmar]

5. I don't think so either.....the point of the Working Life blog entry is the larger issue....

..... of companies seeking cheap labor overseas, and the inevitable result.

[HopeHoops]

6. K&R - especially the shouted comment at the end.

"Hi welcome to WalMart. Now buy a bunch of cheap shit from China and go the fuck home."

You can save a SHITLOAD of money by looking at the "Made in China" line on the tag and asking yourself, "do I REALLY need this that badly?" If you answer yourself honestly, a lot of those items will go right back on the shelf. Sure, there are some things that simply aren't made in the US anymore, but even then there are often alternative countries of origin with better human rights records.

[cbdo2007]

7. but this is how Trickle Down Economics works.....

More money to rich business owners so they can spend as little as possible to create their product in other countries in substandard working conditions.

[tilsammans]

8. Apple not having its manufacturing here in the USA . . .

. . . THAT'S the underlying problem.

:rant: