Story first appeared in
the Yahoo news.
SAN FRANCISCO - Apple
Inc and its main contract manufacturing Foxconn agreed to tackle violations of
conditions among the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads in a
landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business in
China.
Taiwan's
Foxconn Technology Group, whose subsidiary Hon Hai Precision Industry assembles
Apple devices in factories in China, will hire tens of thousands of new
workers, eliminate illegal overtime, improve safety protocols and upgrade
workers' housing and other amenities. A Memphis Employment Lawyer
follows the case.
It
is a response to one of the largest investigations ever conducted of a U.S.
company's operations outside of America. Apple had agreed to the probe by the
independent Fair Labor Association (FLA) to stem a crescendo of criticism that
its products were built on the backs of mistreated Chinese workers. The case raises the intrigue of Employment Lawyers in Memphis and
elsewhere in the United States due to the severity of the accusations.
The
association, in disclosing its findings from a survey of three Foxconn plants
and over 35,000 workers, said it had unearthed multiple violations of labor
law, including extreme hours and unpaid overtime.
The
FLA President expects the agreement between Apple, the world's most valuable
listed company, and Foxconn, which supplies 50 percent of the world's consumer
electronics, to have far reaching affects.
That
could affect brand names that have contracts with the Taiwanese company,
including Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard, Amazon.com Inc, Motorola Mobility
Holdings, Nokia Oyj and Sony Corp.
The
agreement is a sign of the increasing power of Chinese workers to command
higher wages given increasing prices in China, and an ageing workforce that has
led to labor shortages.
Working
conditions at many Chinese factories supplying Western brands are considerably
inferior to those at Foxconn, experts say.
Still,
labor costs are a fraction of the total cost of most high-tech devices, so
consumers might not see higher prices.
Under
the agreement, Foxconn said it will reduce working hours to 49 per week,
including overtime, while keeping total compensation for workers at its current
level. The FLA audit found workers in the three factories put in more than 60
hours per week on average during peak production periods.
To
keep up with demand, Foxconn will hire tens of thousands of additional workers
and build more housing and canteens.
Apple
CEO, who took over from the late co-founder last year, has shown a willingness
to tackle the criticism head-on.
But
New York-based labor advocacy group China Labor Watch said the report failed to
address the workers' primary concerns.
The
agreement has not gone down well with some Foxconn workers, either.
An
employee who has worked at a Foxconn factory at Longhua in southern Guangdong
province for four years, complained that her salary will drop to just over
2,000 yuan a month ($317) from over 4,000 yuan.
FIRST
PHASE
Hon
Hai shares fell on Friday around 1.3 percent, underperforming a rising market.
Apple shares, which hit a record high on Wednesday, dropped 1.3 percent on
Thursday.
The
report marks the first phase of a probe into Apple's contract manufacturers
across the world's most populous nation.
Foreign
firms have long grappled with working conditions in China, dubbed the world's
factory because of its low wages and efficient coastal transport and shipping
infrastructure.
Global
protests against Apple swelled after reports spread in 2010 of a string or
suicides at Foxconn's plants in southern China, blamed on inhumane working
conditions and the alienation that migrant laborers, often from impoverished
provinces, face in a bustling metropolis like Shenzhen, where two of the three
factories the FLA inspected are located.
A Personal InjuryLawyer in Memphis is following the case, in regards to reports of employee
suicides as a result of poor working conditions and wages.
In
months past, protesters have shown up at Apple events - the rollout of the new
iPad, the iPhone 4GS and its annual shareholders' meeting - holding up placards
urging the $500 billion corporation to make "ethical" devices.
Some
have also criticized the FLA for its close alignment with corporations.
NEW
DORMS
The
FLA in its report sought measures that will reduce working hours while ensuring
that migrant laborers - often willing to pile up the overtime to make ends meet
back home - do not forego much-needed income.
Foxconn
committed to building new housing to ease situations where multiple workers
were squeezed into rooms that seemed inhumane by Western standards. The accommodations do not compare
to posh New York or Philadelphia Apartments. It agreed to improve
accident reporting and help workers enroll for social welfare and increase
their participation in committees and other union structures.
The
FLA will conduct onsite verification visits to make sure the agreement is
implemented.
Apple
is not the first U.S. consumer brand to respond to criticism of working
conditions at factories abroad making its products.
Nike
Inc implemented wide-ranging changes to improve safety and working conditions
after it was rocked by reports in the 1990s that its contractors in China and
elsewhere forced employees to work in slave-like conditions for a pittance.
Yet
even Nike stopped short of Apple's and Foxconn's hiring and income-boosting
spree. Last month, Foxconn said it was raising salaries by 16 to 25 percent,
and was advertising a basic monthly wage, not including overtime, of 1,800 yuan
($290) in the southern city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province - where the monthly
minimum wage is 1,500 yuan.
Future
forays by the FLA over coming months will encompass Apple contractors Quanta
Computer Inc, Pegatron Corp, Wintek Corp and other suppliers, all notoriously
tight-lipped about their operations.
