Apple Drops Chinese Supplier for Child Labor Violations

[MacRumors]

Apple yesterday released its 2013 Supplier Responsibility Report (PDF), disclosing the results of its audit program for 2012 and revealing that it had fired one of its suppliers after finding evidence of 74 underage workers at one facility.

In January 2012, for example, we audited a supplier, Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics Co., Ltd. (PZ)? that produces a standard circuit board component used by many other companies
in many industries. Our auditors were dismayed to discover 74 cases of workers under age 16--a core violation of our Code of Conduct. As a result, we terminated our business relationship with PZ.

Apple's investigation determined that many of PZ's underage workers had been provided by a local labor agency that had conspired with families to forge age verification documents. As a result, Apple reported the agency to authorities, who fined suspended the business license of the agency while requiring PZ to pay the expenses to return the children to their families.

Apple's report touts a number of other achievements for 2012, including a 72% increase in the number of audits performed compared to 2011, worker empowerment training for 1.3 million employees, and increased compliance with working-hour limitations.

We've previously covered Apple's regular updates on working-hour compliance, noting that the rate had fallen in the September-November period as part of Apple's allowance for voluntary overtime during periods of high demand. Apple's new report reveals that compliance with the standard returned to near its highs in December, with Apple's audits showing 92% compliance for the entire year across more than one million tracked workers.

Article Link: Apple Drops Chinese Supplier for Child Labor Violations

[phillipduran]

Man, these kids were shipped over from their families to work and live at these places. Nice to see Apple standing up against this.

[iphone495]

Good for Apple! I feel like these things aren't really talked about in the media.

[RyanR.]

So now these kids are homeless and jobless?

[BvizioN]

Originally Posted by RyanR.

So now these kids are homeless and jobless?

What? Jobless underage workers? Am I reading this right?
And what does Apple have anything to do with them being homeless?

[Bubba Satori]

Originally Posted by RyanR.

So now these kids are homeless and jobless?

They could give them portable suicide nets as part of their severence package.

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by RyanR.

So now these kids are homeless and jobless?

As had been reported in previous annual reports by Apple, the company that employed them has to pay to return them to their families, put them back to school, and pay for them to catch up with missed school time. Part of the contract you sign when you want to supply to Apple.

So these kids will now live with their parents as they should, and they don't have a job because they are going to school.

[mrsir2009]

Originally Posted by RyanR.

So now these kids are homeless and jobless?

Yes, but I guess the point of Apple stopping it is to deter families from sending their kids off to work at such a young age in the first place? Although things must have been pretty bad for the families to make their kids work... Kinda looks like a double-edged sword

----------

Originally Posted by Bheleu

No wonder we have edge bleeding, etc. kudos to Apple for making sure they have competent workers, so we can swap the items out less often. Maybe the kids will stop playing hooky and get back to school to learn some real world job skills. If their parents had finished their education instead of acting like rabbits, they could have bought an iPhone instead of sending their kids out to make them one.

Yeah, and how do they do that when you haven't got enough money to live?

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by RyanR.

So now these kids are homeless and jobless?

This post was voted up by 13 people.

That's 13 people who were too lazy to actually read Apple's report, and to find the following sentence: "Suppliers must return underage workers to school and finance their education at a school chosen by the family. In addition, the children must continue to receive income matching what they received when they were employed. We also follow up regularly to ensure that the children remain in school and that the suppliers continue to uphold their financial commitment."

Get it? Not homeless. Going to school. _And_ receiving the same money as if they were going to work.

[carlgo]

Consider those 13 might well simply be Chinese or corporate trolls. Every time a discussion about Chinese labor comes up they emerge like mushrooms and post anti-American worker sentiments.

They pretty much all say the same thing too, which makes one think they work off of a talking point list of some sort.

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by carlgo

Consider those 13 might well simply be Chinese or corporate trolls. Every time a discussion about Chinese labor comes up they emerge like mushrooms and post anti-American worker sentiments.

They pretty much all say the same thing too, which makes one think they work off of a talking point list of some sort.

No, I'd say it's general stupidity. Of course any of those 13 is very welcome to post here and explain why they voted this up.

Originally Posted by flameproof

But on a positive note, of course Apple's subcontractors can still source from them, hence no harm will be done to productivity.

Actually, no. The agency supplying these underage workers has been shut down. The manufacturer was a subcontractor used by an Apple contractor: The contractor isn't using the subcontractor anymore, the contractor has on its own started checks on its other subcontractors, and you can bet that the contractor will not try to somehow use the subcontractor again in some hidden fashion because the risk is much too big for them, unless they want to lose their contract with Apple.

[BornAgainApple]

Kudos to Apple

[Limboistik]

This is both good and bad.
Now the kids have no jobs and no money to send home to their poor families.

Life is different over there.

[Chuck-Norris]

So my iPhone 5 could have been made by kids? yikes

[AQUADock]

Its a good thing that it is getting awareness.

[sportsfan]

Originally Posted by Limboistik

This is both good and bad.
Now the kids have no jobs and no money to send home to their poor families.

Life is different over there.

It's only different because those in power keep it that way....and "capitalism" is part of the problem by exploiting countries that are willing to exploit their population.
It all goes back to the 1%. They feel entitled to their unreasonable compensation so they will do anything to keep it that way. If it were more reasonable, then worker pay could be better while keeping the price of the good the same. Or even if the price were a little higher, every worker is making more money so it wouldn't have much of an effect.

[srxtr]

These families need money, y'know?

I know Americans think "Child Labor" zomg wa-da-fux but without these jobs the families go hungry and homeless.

gg

[Limboistik]

Originally Posted by sportsfan

It's only different because those in power keep it that way....and "capitalism" is part of the problem by exploiting countries that are willing to exploit their population.
It all goes back to the 1%. They feel entitled to their unreasonable compensation so they will do anything to keep it that way. If it were more reasonable, then worker pay could be better while keeping the price of the good the same. Or even if the price were a little higher, every worker is making more money so it wouldn't have much of an effect.

If you've been to rural areas of China you will understand.
It's not so much the "powers that be" that are suppressing the rise of the middle class.

It really is a developing country in the majority of the nation. Much of the population have led simple lives.

[Solomani]

And Samsung and the other Asian competitors will gladly hire this supplier to manufacture THEIR Android devices to accelerate production, because things like child labor violations are generally not considered 'taboo' in most Asian countries (and developing nations).

[Oletros]

Originally Posted by Solomani

And Samsung and the other Asian competitors will gladly hire this supplier to manufacture THEIR Android devices to accelerate production, because things like child labor violations are generally not considered 'taboo' in most Asian countries (and developing nations).

42 messages until one trying to start a flame war

[JAT]

Originally Posted by Rodimus Prime

It is a start. Still a long ways to go. Yes keep the pressure up and keep doing it.
Yes I know Apple gets the lion share of the pressure but they also are in the best position to force a real change.

Better than the Chinese govt?

Originally Posted by KdParker

Not sure how to feel about this topic.

I do see the problem with exploiting chlid labor, but if a 15 year old kid has to work to help feed the family do to the circumstances of thier environment.

My kids are begging to work. Have been since they were under 10. I'll probably let them when they are 15 (which is legal here) just to shut them up.

Originally Posted by TouchMint.com

I wonder if they would do the same "dropping" of a supplier if they didnt have a backup.

Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Do you need a Tums?

Originally Posted by Purpendicular

I am Swedish, I worked quite legally 8-hour days sorting returnable bottles at a brewery when I was 14 for 7-8 weeks in 1978. My sister worked at a local supermarket the same summer just before she turned 13. You are still allowed to work when you are 13, provided the work is light and does not "damage your health". Duh. And does not interfer with your school work.

Until government intervened, people were adults, worked as adults and started behaving as adults around 15. My dad started working when he was 14.

Here in MN there are exceptions for 14yo, and lots of opportunity for 15yo with time restrictions. The "under 16" of this story is a little surprising to me.

Originally Posted by Oletros

42 messages until one trying to start a flame war

You missed some. It was more like 6.

[blackhand1001]

Originally Posted by Solomani

And Samsung and the other Asian competitors will gladly hire this supplier to manufacture THEIR Android devices to accelerate production, because things like child labor violations are generally not considered 'taboo' in most Asian countries (and developing nations).

Samsung produces a large portion of its products in its home country of south Korea which has comparable wages to the United states. It is not a race to bottom country like China where wages are maybe a dollar a day if your lucky.

[Nunyabinez]

I think child labor is an awful thing. But this is a very complicated issue and I guarantee you that for many children in China, working in a factory is a blessing. First, when people are desperate, they will turn to many things to take care of themselves. Supposedly these children will be sent back to school. If their family is starving, how long do you think that will last? Parents will pull them out and put them back to work somewhere else.

Nike had a problem with underage workers in their factories. They would fire them and then the only option for most of them was prostitution. So, they worked out a deal where the kids would work a part day and go to school at the factory for part of the day so that they could get an education. Just dropping them out on the street was not going to put them in school, just into a more dangerous work situation.

Most of this is pressure from do-gooders who think they are helping when they are actually hurting. The U.S. is not the rest of the world and our arrogance at pushing our values on people is astounding. It is only matched by the ignorance of the majority of people about the reality of living in many parts of the world. And yes, I've spent time in China.

[vvswarup]

Originally Posted by blackhand1001

Samsung produces a large portion of its products in its home country of south Korea which has comparable wages to the United states. It is not a race to bottom country like China where wages are maybe a dollar a day if your lucky.

This has to be one of the most asinine posts I have read on this forum. Read this about Saint Samsung:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2190246.html

The article mentions CHINA factories. See, Samsung uses those same factories too.

[szw-mapple fan]

macrumors posting several hours after 9to5mac. AGAIN.