Former Apple Executives Address Working Conditions in Suppliers' Factories

[samcraig]

Read the article..they talk about 2006, 2007 and 2008 incidents and yet don't bring up anything more recent, especially after Apple has addressed those incidents.

As the one chinese reader replied..it's not Apple. It's everyone and the country itself...so stop blaming Apple.

If people saw what kind of life workers lived before they found a job at Foxconn, they would come to an opposite conclusion of this story: that Apple is such a philanthropist.

If not to buy Apple, what’s the substitute – Samsung? Don’t you know that Samsung’s products are from its OEM factory in Tianjin? Samsung workers’ income and benefits are even worse than those at Foxconn. If not to buy iPad – (do you think) I will buy Android Pad? Have you ever been to the OEM factories for Lenovo and ASUS? Quanta, Compaq … factories of other companies are all worse than those for Apple. Not to buy iPod – (do you think) I will buy Aigo, Meizu? Do you know that Aigo’s Shenzhen factory will not pay their workers until the 19th of the second month? If you were to quit, fine, I’m sorry, your salary will be withdrawn. Foxconn never dares to do such things. First, their profit margin is higher than peers as they manufacture for Apple. Second, at least those foreign devils will regularly audit factories. Domestic brands will never care if workers live or die. I am not speaking for Foxconn. I am just speaking as an insider of this industry, and telling you some disturbing truth.

I am looking at the 2011 report on APPLE's website. 74 percent compliance. That's as recent as recent can be. If they have such strict standards - why the "C" ?

And it doesn't matter if it's the country or not (I mean yes - it does matter) - but Apple has the ability to make changes and they are not. They are not living up to their responsibility. Not one that you or I are setting for them. Not one that the media is setting up for them. But that Apple has set up for THEMSELVES.

Why is this so hard for people to understand. Apple is the one claiming their social responsibility. And when it's argued that they aren't people are trying to shift the blame elsewhere? Mind boggling.

 

[ronjon10]

Apple has 100 billion in cash.

They could spend a billion or so building better dormitories for Foxconn employees. That money is better spent than the 100 million in attorney's fees fighting Android.

It would give them pretty serious karma also.

Really though, barring something outlandish like this, there's not much Apple can do other than what they are doing. It would take intervention by the Chinese government to put in new laws about how to treat labor. That would jack up costs and make the manufacturing field very very slightly closer to balance.

 

[dgree03]

All you electronic user hypocrites should be up in arms. You should picket every single electronic store from Apple, to Best Buy, to the phone stores to your clothing stores, to your...well everything.

Remember what your leader said...Obama said fair share...lets make sure everyone shares the fair blame in making China a slave labor country.

Again, lets focus. This article is about apple

Apple is a powerful company that is not doing enough to bring safe conditions to APPLES SUPPLIERS.

A few of us in this thread about APPLE just want apple to shiz or get off the pot. Either enforce your rules or move out.

 

[XX55XX]

All you electronic user hypocrites should be up in arms. You should picket every single electronic store from Apple, to Best Buy, to the phone stores to your clothing stores, to your...well everything.

Remember what your leader said...Obama said fair share...lets make sure everyone shares the fair blame in making China a slave labor country.

And you know what? You are absolutely right. I mentioned a few posts ago that we are equally guilty in perpetuating poor conditions in China.

And Apple, given its prestige and position, should lead, not follow. If Apple moves, so will other companies.

Also, did you read the article? Apple gives so little margin to its suppliers that it encourages its suppliers to cut corners. The only reason workers were forced to use n-hexane to clean glass screens was because it evaporated more quickly than rubbing alcohol.

And it begins with us, with our Chinese-made iPads, Chinese-made shoes, Chinese-made backpacks, and Chinese-made clothing to encourage companies to demand accountability.

 

[linuxcooldude]

Differences is Apple has both the money and power to do something about it and they are choosing not to. Instead they demand more profit to paid the bottom line.

Even if they finally changed to some extent, the working conditions would not do anything for the rest of China outside of Foxconn. Change ultimately has to come from within Chinas government itself. I don't think Apples willing to take on the whole Chinese government by itself.

 

[samcraig]

All you electronic user hypocrites should be up in arms. You should picket every single electronic store from Apple, to Best Buy, to the phone stores to your clothing stores, to your...well everything.

Remember what your leader said...Obama said fair share...lets make sure everyone shares the fair blame in making China a slave labor country.

You keep missing the point. Apple has the most potential for success in making a change. This is an Apple website. The article was about Apple. What other companies are doing IS important - but multiple wrongs don't make a right not does it make Apple any less culpable.

All it takes is one company to "do the right thing" and others will follow. This is one I would LOVE to call every other company a "copy cat" As long as people are complicit and keep waiting for someone else to do something - nothing will ever get done. "Hey - why me? someone else should do something"

Apple is held to the higher standard because that's the image they project. Quality. They are also not the "david" any more. They are the Goliath.

 

[XX55XX]

Even if they finally changed to some extent, the working conditions would not do anything for the rest of China outside of Foxconn. Change ultimately has to come from within Chinas government itself. I don't think Apples willing to take on the whole Chinese government by itself.

And from there on, it would be up to the Chinese people.

But, we can still do our part. The NYT has done its part.

 

[*LTD*]

And you know what? You are absolutely right. I mentioned a few posts ago that we are equally guilty in perpetuating poor conditions in China.

And Apple, given its prestige and position, should lead, not follow. If Apple moves, so will other companies.

You sure about that?

The PC market is in the crapper. The last thing manufacturers want to do is raise prices on products that are barely (if at all) increasing their YOY gains.

What Apple is able to pull off, the others are not.

 

[globalist]

Did you read the article. The WHOLE article? I'm guessing not. Because other companies pay more to factories in china AND stipulate that X goes to working conditions.

I'd love to see exact research into how much money/resources each major US electronics business dedicates towards improving the working conditions at their suppliers. And yet all I see is that Apple is not doing enough.

Why don't journalists get off their asses and compile such a report?

 

[samcraig]

Even if they finally changed to some extent, the working conditions would not do anything for the rest of China outside of Foxconn. Change ultimately has to come from within Chinas government itself. I don't think Apples willing to take on the whole Chinese government by itself.

The point is they don't HAVE to. With your "argument" - let's not solve ANYONE's problems in China - let them all have the same problem. Versus - let's do whatever we can for as many people as we can.

It's not a throw the baby out with the bathwater scenario. So Apple can't solve CHINA's "problem." No one is asking them to. What they are being called out on is helping those that work for their suppliers.

And again - Apple's dug its own "grave" here because of their own standards and practices here - http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/

 

[XX55XX]

You sure about that?

The PC market is in the crapper. The last thing manufacturers want to do is raise prices on products that are barely (if at all) increasing their YOY gains.

What Apple is able to pull off, the others are not.

And Apple should be willing to sacrifice a bit of its margin to do the right thing.

Other companies (as mentioned in the article) give their suppliers slightly bigger margins to compensate. Granted, this article is pretty skewed against Apple, but skewing it against Apple also makes it a far more compelling read, due to Apple's size and prestige.

 

[dgree03]

You sure about that?

The PC market is in the crapper. The last thing manufacturers want to do is raise prices on products that are barely (if at all) increasing their YOY gains.

What Apple is able to pull off, the others are not.

Well then lets not worry about other companies, lets just focus on apple. Again according to your positions on many threads on this forum. People copycat apple, apple is powerful, they have a unbeatable business model.

What is stopping them from extending their "genius" to make suppliers do what apples wants?

 

[samcraig]

I'd love to see exact research into how much money/resources each major US electronics business dedicates towards improving the working conditions at their suppliers. And yet all I see is that Apple is not doing enough.

Why don't journalists get off their asses and compile such a report?

Is it journalists responsibility? Maybe it should be mandated that companies are more transparent.

All you see is that Apple isn't doing enough? Blame Apple. They set the "bar" - http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/

 

[fullmanfullninj]

First off, Apple's cash is irrelevant. Having Apple do something with its cash to improve the labor environment would be nice - if Apple owned the place. The matter of fact is the factory/factories belong to Foxconn, a company that is not controlled by Apple.
Now this goes both ways. Apple could build a factory and have it be all nice and stuff and have Foxconn workers in there, but the Chinese government would most likely not allow that. Foxconn is a separate entity from Apple. Apple can place its orders, but the people who get it done are Foxconn's execs and workers. How they get it done is not within Apple's direct control. They can coerce Foxconn to change things up and whatever, but do you really think it's feasible? Unless you replace the supervisors and/or managers (or whatever their positions are called) with Apple employees, it's unlikely that all the supervisors will change how they manage their workers.

I wouldn't call it corruption or whatever, but when Apple places a huge order of however many thousands or millions of devices/parts, there is a lot of pressure on supervisors at Foxconn, because their jobs are somewhat on the line if they don't meet a demand or quota or whatever.

If we throw Apple employees into Foxconn factories, I could foresee a difference. I mean consider what some of you are asking. Yes, Apple has a **** ton of money, but what are they supposed to do with it? Buy workers candy? Pay the workers bonus in addition to what Foxconn pays them? They have no direct way of putting cash into improving factory conditions or improving wages. Remember, this is not only a foreign company, but foreign ground as well. In China, lower-end labor is not as regulated as it is in America. There are just too many employees and too many cities.

Now onto my second point, which someone has mentioned earlier. This is not a slave camp or whatever. Workers are not being kept here against their will nor are they hired against their will. The reason why many workers continue to stay is because the conditions in which they're living under are probably better than anything else they could find. They at least have an income, a place to live, and food to eat. No matter how little or cramped, they have something.

And talking about their wages...there is a 1:6.7 (last time I checked) exchange rate of USD to RMB. You can go outside in the morning and spend like 5RMB on breakfast (1-2RMB is enough) which equates to less than a dollar. But workers are already given food and a place to live. This situation is definitely bad, don't get me wrong, but yell at Apple and defend workers for the right reasons. The "low" wage is not bad. You could take a McDonalds worker here in the States and put him in China with a similar salary and he will live comfortably - or at least more comfortably than he would in the States. The cost of living is much lower in China, and this is something people fail to mention. We cannot hold China to the same standards of the United States.

To the person who asked earlier if you could survive on a 200$/month salary. In the States? **** no. In China? Yes. There are some places in China where the "average" minimum wage is around 160USD. They seem to be surviving pretty well. Shenzhen, one of the factory's locations, has a minimum wage of 208$. Sure, that's difficult to survive on. Beijing, the capitol of China, has a minimum wage of 198$. Guangdong? 104USD-206USD. Sichuan? 71-135$.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_in_People's_Republic_of_China)

 

[globalist]

Is it journalists responsibility? Maybe it should be mandated that companies are more transparent.

Apple is transparent enough, apprently.

All you see is that Apple isn't doing enough? Blame Apple. They set the "bar" - http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/

No they didn't set the bar. They just did a publicity stunt and came up with some sort of a corporate version of "political correctness" BS programme in order to curb the 2009/2010 "Foxconn story" hysteria after it got out of hand.

Oh and for the record, I too believe the conditions in Foxconn are much better than the rest of China, so again it's mind-boggling why Apple is being singled out and the hysteria is being rekindled.

 

[Jon the Heretic]

Human Lives are cheap

No - it would cut their profit margin somewhat. They do not have to pass it back to the consumer. Supporting human rights is not always the MOST profitable thing a company can do, but it's a necessity especially for a company like Apple that gives a lot of PR bull that they actually care about things like this.

Apple didn't pass the savings of using Chinese serfs to consumers; they just increased their already quite high profit margins. There is no necessity they'd need to pass it the other way too, not with their existing margins.

Maybe they will offer a special model, like Product Red, or like buying electricity that comes from green sources and doesn't dump mercury into your drinking water, with a 25% markup, with a new boutique color. "Product Free" or something like, "now without 25% less slave labor".

Keep in mind that Apple is far from alone in benefiting from these slave-like conditions. Apple is just more successful at actually making a huge profit for more than just a handful of top executives. Today you must make a good profit with low prices and high compensation packages for upper management, and advancements in human rights since the 1930s put limits on much you can wring costs out from employees.

I find it ironic that today's Free Market rests on the willingness of a communist totalitarian regime to exploit their people for the benefit of today's no-holes-barred capitalists. The Chinese government owns the factories, removes the risk and supplies the bodies, huddling them together in dorms, never leaving the 'campus'. Harkens back to American Coal Miner's in the 1930s, indebted to the company store; not technically slaves, but not terribly different from them in any substantive way either. The fact that the Chinese can lend the U.S. money means the strategy is paying off for the Chinese in a big way, well, at the top anyway. But no wonder the have to put netting off the roofs for jumpers.

Listening to people -- some are whom are my friends -- rationalize Foxconn's and other Chinese company's abuses while simultaneously poo-pooing Nationalism (my Dad fought in WWII for this???), makes me realize how people were able to so easily excuse slavery during the 1800s -- only back then they didn't have big Economic textbooks to fall back on to berate the abolitionists, telling them "they just don't understand economics". I am sure that was just the Free Market at work, too, right? Had to keep the cost of cotton low, right? I love my levis jeans. Slaves were paid in food and housing, right?

Apple is a terrific company and it makes terrific products; and I know of no system other than capitalism that provides the opportunity for freedom; but I don't accept it has to be predicated on human misery and exploitation, much of which has been (officially) outlawed in the West (not totally gone: check out the tomato pickers in Florida). The race to the East is simply a great excuse to run the hands of the clock back before there were laws protecting people from exploitation at the hands of a few. When we are being asked to be "competitive", that is nothing short of a code word that the West must abandon a normal work day, homes with just a single family in it- or any family at all, an adult-only workforce, pensions, health benefits, air and drinking water free of debilitating poison. All of those things HURT business and cut into profits.

 

[Ryth]

I am looking at the 2011 report on APPLE's website. 74 percent compliance. That's as recent as recent can be. If they have such strict standards - why the "C" ?

And it doesn't matter if it's the country or not (I mean yes - it does matter) - but Apple has the ability to make changes and they are not. They are not living up to their responsibility. Not one that you or I are setting for them. Not one that the media is setting up for them. But that Apple has set up for THEMSELVES.

Why is this so hard for people to understand. Apple is the one claiming their social responsibility. And when it's argued that they aren't people are trying to shift the blame elsewhere? Mind boggling.

And what were the conditions BEFORE Apple came there?!?!

You keep spouting that Apple hasnt done anything where many of us feel Apple has done A LOT to improve conditions over there...

It was the ***** dark ages over there before Apple got there and Apple has gotten what's considered drastic changes for these employees vs what they had before..and those changes are still taking place.

Many of these people were living in POVERTY in the country side..no access t everyday food, no access to everyday shelter, no access to medical care, clean water and so on.

Apple has created hundreds of thousands of jobs and has brought hundreds of thousands out of poverty...literal as worse as you can get poverty like you have in Africa.

And yet, Apple hasn't done anything according to you. That statement is so full of fail. If you look at what they've done, they've probably done more for a class of poor in China then their government has ever done.

You are also comparing conditions here to over there and lets be realistic...the world does not work that way...period. Lets talk about Somalia and places in Africa...far worse then what's going on here in China.

The world will always be built on low wage labor. That is a reality that will never change because there will always be a pecking order in place...just like there is in nature.

 

[samcraig]

To say Apple can't assert themselves to Foxconn is nothing short of ridiculous. I think even LTD would agree that they COULD if they so chose to.

And this isn't about fair wages. This is about working conditions. I could make a million dollars - but if I'm being beaten and working in a dungeon, etc - those are two completely different matters. And no - I am not saying anyone is getting beaten, etc.

First off, Apple's cash is irrelevant. Having Apple do something with its cash to improve the labor environment would be nice - if Apple owned the place. The matter of fact is the factory/factories belong to Foxconn, a company that is not controlled by Apple.
Now this goes both ways. Apple could build a factory and have it be all nice and stuff and have Foxconn workers in there, but the Chinese government would most likely not allow that. Foxconn is a separate entity from Apple. Apple can place its orders, but the people who get it done are Foxconn's execs and workers. How they get it done is not within Apple's direct control. They can coerce Foxconn to change things up and whatever, but do you really think it's feasible? Unless you replace the supervisors and/or managers (or whatever their positions are called) with Apple employees, it's unlikely that all the supervisors will change how they manage their workers.

.... edited for brevity...

To the person who asked earlier if you could survive on a 200$/month salary. In the States? **** no. In China? Yes. There are some places in China where the "average" minimum wage is around 160USD. They seem to be surviving pretty well. Shenzhen, one of the factory's locations, has a minimum wage of 208$. Sure, that's difficult to survive on. Beijing, the capitol of China, has a minimum wage of 198$. Guangdong? 104USD-206USD. Sichuan? 71-135$.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_in_People's_Republic_of_China)

Apple is transparent enough, apprently.



No they didn't set the bar. They just did a publicity stunt and came up with some sort of a corporate version of "political correctness" BS programme in order to curb the 2009/2010 "Foxconn story" hysteria after it got out of hand.

Oh and for the record, I too believe the conditions in Foxconn are much better than the rest of China, so again it's mind-boggling why Apple is being singled out and the hysteria is being rekindled.

Well yes. Exactly. But now it's bit them in the hindquarters.

I don't know why the "foxconn story" is in quotes as if there's no story. I also don't see why you use the word "hysteria." Real problems, real deaths. That's hardly hysteria.

You know why Apple is being singled out. If you don't - then how can you possibly contribute to this discussion legitimately. Truth is - you know why - you just don't like it. Again - two different things.

 

[QCassidy352]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Unless you've given up buying Apple products (and products made by other companies with similar practices), I don't have a lot of patience for complaints on this issue. In the same way people are saying "Apple has a policy but they're not enforcing it," people here are doing a lot of talking about how evil apple is, and I'm curious who has actually changed their own buying choices.

 

[samcraig]

And what were the conditions BEFORE Apple came there?!?!

You keep spouting that Apple hasnt done anything where many of us feel Apple has done A LOT to improve conditions over there...

It was the ***** dark ages over there before Apple got there and Apple has gotten what's considered drastic changes for these employees vs what they had before..and those changes are still taking place.

How come when it comes to the good that's done - it's Apple doing it and when something is bad - it's Foxconn (and Apple has no control). Just curious how that works.

I don't deny Apple's contributions. And just like I don't have a statistic on what they have or haven't done BEFORE - do you? Can you link to some report or whatnot that speaks to your argument.

I never said Apple hasn't done anything. If you think I've said that - go back and read my posts. I question whether they've done enough or everything that they COULD do. And if they haven't - why not? If they advertise their social responsibility - why (as per the article) do they not adhere to their own standards that they've set.

If I say I am going to deliver x y and z to you and I don't deliver that - then am I succeeding? If I only give you X and Y - yes - I am giving you "something" - but it's not what I told you I was going to do.

That's the catch-22 with transparency. And that's also why Apple (one of the reasons) they are being singled out.

 

[DTphonehome]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

It is obvious that many of the posters here are not business people or economists. Riddle me this. How does Apple moving operations to the US help Foxconn employees? It doesn't. In fact it would devastate their economy and force thousands back into the fields to earn enough to make a living. The same goes for robotics. How does an automated factory help workers? By giving them unlimited free time to pursue intellectual interests?

Fact: China has a population problem and a labor over-supply. The labor rate is set by the labor supply and the cost of living among other things. Foxconn employees are paid a fair rate based on how many people want those jobs the skills required and what goods cost in that area. People who say foreign companies should pay higher wages are clueless about how economies work.

Imagine a foreign company came to your home town and set-up a business that virtually everyone in your city was capable of doing. They then offered thousands of jobs that pay one million dollars a year. What do you think would happen? People would be literally killing each other to get these jobs. And what would happen to the price of goods in your town? With thousands of millionaires inflation would sky-rocket and soon anyone who didn't work for this company would be priced out of being able to survive.

Sound unrealistic? Well it happened with maquiladoras across the border in Mexico. Dealing with operations in foreign countries is a very complex and problematic situation and one that I would venture to say no one here is likely to have the experience or understanding to appreciate.

Certainly, Apple should be (and is) working to keep from having vulnerable populations (like children) exploited, but paying willing workers the going rate for their economy is actually the responsible thing to do.

I'm sorry but the childish view of "Apple has a bunch of money and so they should save the world" simply shows that you have a limited conceptual ability to understand the complexities of economies, capital markets and strategic planning. And I would venture to say that the people here complaining that Apple should do something are the same people that buy stuff from Walmart and quickly switch the channel when a "Save the Children" ad comes on TV. Anyone here has the means to literally save dozens of lives every month. Are you doing that?

Bravo! Incredibly well-said!

 

[XX55XX]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Unless you've given up buying Apple products (and products made by other companies with similar practices), I don't have a lot of patience for complaints on this issue. In the same way people are saying "Apple has a policy but they're not enforcing it," people here are doing a lot of talking about how evil apple is, and I'm curious who has actually changed their own buying choices.

I do not own a single Apple product at the moment. Granted, I have a camera, laptop, and PC that are made in China (mostly), but I haven't bought an Apple product in years.

 

[Nunyabinez]

I was in China 2 years ago on a CIBER (Center for International Business Education Research) visit (I am a Management Professor). We went to a factory that claimed to manufacture something like 70% of the world's microwaves. We saw workers doing extremely routine tasks, like putting in one screw into an assembly, or placing the glass plate into the oven.

When we met later with management, we asked them about cross-training, job enrichment, etc. All the things we tout in the US to keep workers motivated and reduce turnover. They said "We understand these concepts, but it takes us four hours to train an employee and we have an unlimited supply of workers coming in from farms when one quits. So, someday we will do these things, but they are not cost effective now."

So, Apple is fighting an upward battle. If Apple is able to persuade Foxconn to improve conditions, Foxconn becomes marginally more expensive for their long list of other customers. And what do you think Acer and HP are going to do if Foxconn starts to cost more? They'll start looking someone who can do it for cheaper and Foxconn gradually loses customers.

People keep talking like there are unlimited options out there. Why is Apple taking a b****slapping from Samsung? Why are they doing all this crap with lawsuits and IP? Why don't they just tell Samsung to go pound sand and find a new supplier? Because they CAN'T. At least in the short-term no one else can produce the parts that Apple needs in the quantities they need with the quality they need, so Apple HAS to use Samsung as a supplier. In this case, their size is a liability.

Believe me, Apple is trying to reduce their dependence on Samsung, but you can't just take your ball and go home. Apple doesn't want explosions, or child labor or that kind of stuff. But should they be monitoring everything that suppliers do? They are trying to make things better, but if they told Foxconn to get their act to gather or go somewhere else, I guarantee you that Foxconn knows that there isn't anywhere else to go. So, it isn't like Apple can just snap their fingers and make everything right. Foxconn is run the way Foxconn management wants it run. And Apple can do their best to help improve things, but it's foolish to think that even with $100B they can do anything and everything they want. That's just not how the world works.

 

[uknowimright]

didn't know so many Apple shareholders posted here

 

[Ryth]

How come when it comes to the good that's done - it's Apple doing it and when something is bad - it's Foxconn (and Apple has no control). Just curious how that works.

How it works is this.

Apple is Apple. Foxconn is Foxconn. China is China. Apple doesn't own nor operate Foxconn. Apple isn't a Country like China.

Apple can only control 100% what goes on in THEIR company and their buildings.

Apple can influence and exert pressure on Foxconn and that is what they have done with changes in workers salaries, living conditions, work hours and so on.

China has it's own governmental rules and Apple sure can't tell a country what to do.

It is obvious that many of the posters here are not business people or economists. Riddle me this. How does Apple moving operations to the US help Foxconn employees? It doesn't. In fact it would devastate their economy and force thousands back into the fields to earn enough to make a living. The same goes for robotics. How does an automated factory help workers? By giving them unlimited free time to pursue intellectual interests?

Fact: China has a population problem and a labor over-supply. The labor rate is set by the labor supply and the cost of living among other things. Foxconn employees are paid a fair rate based on how many people want those jobs the skills required and what goods cost in that area. People who say foreign companies should pay higher wages are clueless about how economies work.

Imagine a foreign company came to your home town and set-up a business that virtually everyone in your city was capable of doing. They then offered thousands of jobs that pay one million dollars a year. What do you think would happen? People would be literally killing each other to get these jobs. And what would happen to the price of goods in your town? With thousands of millionaires inflation would sky-rocket and soon anyone who didn't work for this company would be priced out of being able to survive.

Sound unrealistic? Well it happened with maquiladoras across the border in Mexico. Dealing with operations in foreign countries is a very complex and problematic situation and one that I would venture to say no one here is likely to have the experience or understanding to appreciate.

Certainly, Apple should be (and is) working to keep from having vulnerable populations (like children) exploited, but paying willing workers the going rate for their economy is actually the responsible thing to do.

I'm sorry but the childish view of "Apple has a bunch of money and so they should save the world" simply shows that you have a limited conceptual ability to understand the complexities of economies, capital markets and strategic planning. And I would venture to say that the people here complaining that Apple should do something are the same people that buy stuff from Walmart and quickly switch the channel when a "Save the Children" ad comes on TV. Anyone here has the means to literally save dozens of lives every month. Are you doing that?

Agreed. I posted the same thing where a Chinese worker said that if Apple left and took business back to the USA, it would devastate the hundreds of thousands of workers and send them back into extreme poverty vs being just in the lower working class now.

-If people saw what kind of life workers lived before they found a job at Foxconn, they would come to an opposite conclusion of this story: that Apple is such a philanthropist.

-If Foxconn were to abide by the labor law, which is supposed to protect workers and keep them basically to 8 hours a day and 5 days a week, their wages will be lower. If workers establish a formal labor union, lots of workers will be disappointed and return home to rural areas. The production cost of Chinese manufacturers will increase, and those Chinese factories will lose their competitive advantage. Who would be happy if that really happened? —

They are clueless on what Apple has done to bring these people out of the dark ages and getting them a decent living wage (and yes it's DECENT for their country and cost of goods), medical care, daily meals, daily shelter, access to clean water and so on.