Fresh reports of the inhumane conditions that the workers in China’s Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) manufacturing plants have surfaced once again, forcing fingers to be pointed at Apple to improve the working conditions of these workers.
The workers at the Foxconn factory in Southern China, Shenzhen are victims of corporate form of inhumane working conditions and public humiliation. The workers are being forced to work for extended periods of time to meet the increased demand for iPhones and iPads from all over the world. The more the popularity of Apple’s products, the more the workers are pushed to higher hours of work.
The reports of inhumane working conditions first came to light last May when about 7 workers at the Foxconn plant committed suicide. These seven workers were working on the iPad production sector. After this incident, 9 sociologists pushed the need for improved working conditions and also to put an end to the torturous working conditions.
According the new reports surfacing, workers in the age group of 18-20 are made to work on an average for 60-80 hours of extended overtime every month. According to the pay slip of a few workers, some workers put in more than 98 hours of work, to supplement his poor monthly pay. The choice to work for extended periods is a voluntary choice according to the company officials. The reports were published by the non-governmental organizations Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior and the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations.
The non-governmental organizations conducted interviews of random employees at Foxconn. The employees who perform poorly are humiliated publicly by the seniors for their work and only one holiday is allowed for 13 days.
To add insult to the inhumane working conditions, the workers are also asked to sign a statement in which are not allowed to commit suicide. Most of the workers also work in cramped and low quality conditions. The non-profit organizations said that the workers are treated “inhumanely, like machines”.
In a statement released by Apple, it states that the company is committed to ensure the top standards of working conditions and social responsibility, which all its suppliers also have to follow. The recent reports from the Foxconn factory are contradicting these reports. Apple said that they will verify these reports and take corrective action if necessary.
Apple has been facing sever shortages in the supply of the iPad 2 around the world. The increased demand is pushing Apple to force Foxconn to increase its production efficiency.
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Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.
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