Story first appeared in the Detroit Free Press.
BEIJING -- This week's pledge to trim work hours and effectively raise wages for the hardscrabble Chinese employees who assemble Apple's iPads and iPhones isn't likely to drive up the prices that consumers pay. An Employment Lawyer in Memphis has been following the case.
Labor expenses remain a small portion of the total bill for most gadgets made in China, and wages have already been steadily growing. The cumulative wage increases, however, could crimp the profits of major technology companies unless they can save money on the parts that power the devices.
The pledge involves Foxconn Technology, which assembles an estimated 40% of the world's electronics, including the hot-selling iPhone and iPad.
Foxconn, owned by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, promised to limit hours while keeping total pay the same. That commitment will translate into higher hourly wages.
The pledge came after Apple, the world's most valuable company, hired a labor auditor to review the practices and conditions in Chinese factories run by Foxconn. The audit resulted in a report released Thursday that evoked images of a sweatshop. Shanghai Labor and Employment Lawyers are appalled at the extent of the poor working conditions the people are forced to endure.
Among other things, the report said Foxconn routinely violated overtime laws by assigning its assembly-line workers to toil for more than 60 hours per week.
Foxconn responded to a spate of suicides by employees in 2010 by more than doubling its basic monthly salary to 1,800 yuan ($290). That year, Toyota and other Japanese automakers also granted pay hikes following a wave of strikes that had tacit government support.
See also this related story.
For more law related news, please visit the Nation of Law blog.
For more business related news, please visit the Business News blog.
Showing posts with label labor laws. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labor laws. Show all posts
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Apple Suppliers in China Under Fire
Story first appeared in the Detroit Free Press.
A long-awaited report on conditions at Chinese factories that make Apple products confirmed the worst: long hours, low wages and poor working conditions for employees.
Apple, in response, says it will ensure that overseas employees have better working conditions.
Investigators from the Washington-based Fair Labor Association, at Apple's request, went to China to look at Foxconn Technology Group factories in Guanlan, Longhua, and Chengdu, where Apple iPads and iPhones are assembled for sale across the world. Products for other companies, including Dell, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, are made there, too. A Memphis Employment Lawyer has been following the case for some time.
At the Foxconn factories, the average workweek for an employee is 60 hours, which exceeds both the FLA code standard and Chinese legal limit, the month-long investigation found. Some employees worked as many as 70 hours a week in November and December 2011. However, FLA said Foxconn has agreed to remedy this by July 2013, and bring it down to the legal 49 hours, while "protecting workers' pay."
Apple has come under fire recently for producing hit products overseas with low-paid workers in less-than-optimum conditions. Monthly salaries range from $360 to $455. The new Apple CEO was in China on Wednesday visiting a new Foxconn factory, not the ones mentioned in the report. Consumer watchdog groups say that the report is a start but that Apple must really change.
Foxconn -- cited for making workers put in many more hours per week than is legal -- will take more than a year to change direction. Foxconn has more than 1.2 million employees. Labor and Employment Lawyers in Shanghai are following the cases with interest.
SumofUs, along with Change.org, has received more than 250,000 signatures from consumers asking Apple to require its suppliers to treat overseas workers better.
See also this related story.
For more law related news, please visit the Nation of Law blog.
For more business related news, please visit the Business News blog.
A long-awaited report on conditions at Chinese factories that make Apple products confirmed the worst: long hours, low wages and poor working conditions for employees.
Apple, in response, says it will ensure that overseas employees have better working conditions.
Investigators from the Washington-based Fair Labor Association, at Apple's request, went to China to look at Foxconn Technology Group factories in Guanlan, Longhua, and Chengdu, where Apple iPads and iPhones are assembled for sale across the world. Products for other companies, including Dell, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, are made there, too. A Memphis Employment Lawyer has been following the case for some time.
At the Foxconn factories, the average workweek for an employee is 60 hours, which exceeds both the FLA code standard and Chinese legal limit, the month-long investigation found. Some employees worked as many as 70 hours a week in November and December 2011. However, FLA said Foxconn has agreed to remedy this by July 2013, and bring it down to the legal 49 hours, while "protecting workers' pay."
Apple has come under fire recently for producing hit products overseas with low-paid workers in less-than-optimum conditions. Monthly salaries range from $360 to $455. The new Apple CEO was in China on Wednesday visiting a new Foxconn factory, not the ones mentioned in the report. Consumer watchdog groups say that the report is a start but that Apple must really change.
Foxconn -- cited for making workers put in many more hours per week than is legal -- will take more than a year to change direction. Foxconn has more than 1.2 million employees. Labor and Employment Lawyers in Shanghai are following the cases with interest.
SumofUs, along with Change.org, has received more than 250,000 signatures from consumers asking Apple to require its suppliers to treat overseas workers better.
See also this related story.
For more law related news, please visit the Nation of Law blog.
For more business related news, please visit the Business News blog.
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