Apple Factory Conditions

[gwangung]

Trade and weather are the main factors in natural product. A bad season would effect groceries more than a rich neighborhood. In many low class neighborhood in America, the prices of groceries are jacked up. Due mainly to the fact that the people don't have any means of going anywhere else.

Demand is what drives the prices of housing.

And what do you sate that demand with?

I repeat, what kind of economics do you believe in?????

Does this really surprise anyone? Most of the objects we use in our daily life are made in similar settings to the one described. Does that make it right? No. Will it likely change? I highly doubt it.

It will change when there is no longer an advantage to outsourcing. Outsourcing occurs when an area has abundant cheap labor as a resource.

 

[jaxstate]

wth@ "In addition to long hours, work days were said to often be accompanied by military-style drills." It's nice to see our country fighting for democracy in Iraq, but still have no problem doing business with China to keep our economy up.

If your housing community was close to a highly noted school, close to a hospital, near a popular golf corse,...

And what do you sate that demand with?

I repeat, what kind of economics do you believe in?????

This is just factors in America. In a country that has droughts, housing close to a abundant water supply would drive the price of housing up.

I'm a American living in America, so of course my economic system is Capitalism, which I have no problem with. The problem is never with the system, it's the people who run the system.

 

[gkhaldi]

$50 bucks a month to build Ipods? not very heroic of our company is it? still miss the California made PowerMacs.

Funny how it comes that I see none of the Apple shareholders complaining. What we see / hear here is basically 101 economics the hard way. Sorry for those US workers.

PS: Anyone actually knows if these workers are unhappy with what they make / the hours done for it ??

 

[jaxstate]

Wait until this story is picked up by ABC and is feature on dateline or some other show. I think they are gonna target Apple's iPod because it is so popular. This will make for a good story (to them). The shareholder will speak up if/when their stock drops.

Funny how it comes that I see none of the Apple shareholders complaining. What we see / hear here is basically 101 economics the hard way. Sorry for those US workers.

PS: Anyone actually knows if these workers are unhappy with what they make / the hours done for it ??

 

[CompUser]

Seriously, people are acting as if this is an unheard of business practice. I think I can correctly assume that almost all of our asian made goods are made in these types of conditions, whether it be an iPod, a shirt, or a tv.

 

[Philoman]

Seriously, people are acting as if this is an unheard of business practice. I think I can correctly assume that almost all of our asian made goods are made in these types of conditions, whether it be an iPod, a shirt, or a tv.

Sad but what CompUser said is probably so true.

Man, these slaved workers must hate anything to do with iPods. I bet their nightmare would be seeing iPods in their dreams. It's sad to imagine.

What is also sad is those businessmen who are millionaires in China live a life like the Last Emperors. Who said life was fare. sigh~

 

[nagromme]

Wages aside, Apple has a huge say in how these workers are treated, and they should use that influence. It IS Apple's responsibility, since Apple is paying the bills to have workers locked up after hours--as are we who buy from Apple. Apple could, instead, pay to NOT have them locked up (as an example). If Apple says they'll take their business elsewhere, that's enough to make change happen.

I hope the accusations prove groundless, but I find them believable so I hope Apple does something (not just lip service) about the situation.

It doesn't matter if it's common--if there's a fix, nobody should be let off the hook. The fix for the cost/wages issues may not be simple or even exist, I don't know. But fixes for the working/living conditions are surely within reach.

 

[AppleDude]

Reality Check, Please

Reality check needed. Nothing in that article implies that Apple is exploiting people. If Apple is paying paying those workers (or more likely, if the contracted firm is paying its workers) prevailing or higher wages, then the workers are better off as a result of Apple's outsourcing to such venues.

Even if the factory paid less than prevailing wages, they would still be better off than having to accept the next best offer they had. Get real. Get a clue that it is completelyincongruous to compare second world nations working environments against a first-world standard--for both economic and cultural reasons.

 

[longofest]

Reality check needed. Nothing in that article implies that Apple is exploiting people. If Apple is paying paying those workers (or more likely, if the contracted firm is paying its workers) prevailing or higher wages, then the workers are better off as a result of Apple's outsourcing to such venues.

Even if the factory paid less than prevailing wages, they would still be better off than having to accept the next best offer they had. Get real. Get a clue that it is completelyincongruous to compare second world nations working environments against a first-world standard--for both economic and cultural reasons.

The article is only partly about low wages. It is also about forced long hours, and about grueling "exercises" that the employees are forced to do.

 

[AppleDude]

"Fix!" Fix What?

This is too much. There is nothing wrong for Apple to fix. If anything, Apple's arrangement is helping "fix" certain economic difficulties the workers are experiencing.

If you want reaaly want to fix things, stop looking at Apple. The two best fixes those nations could implement to increase the quality of life are as follows and has nothing to do with Apple:

1. Reduce corruption in the government and in the business environement.
2. Increase transparency in the capital markets.

Both of those would result in more rapid increases in the standard of living by encouraging more external investment and by reducing the risk associated with doing business there (and, accordingly the cost of investing in those nations). I think we should be asking the nations' leaders and citizens to fix those things, not Apple.

 

[corvus]

...a firestorm has brewed over a report in Britain's Mail on Sunday...

Okay, no doubt Apple works for money. But Mail on Sunday? Who are they? Like CBS? Like Dan Rather? Like do you trust them? Being a working journalist, I sure don't.

Then, you have the current economic system in China, which is cruel and unfair.

So you have some choices:

1. Don't trade with China and starve them into starting a war. That's the approach of modern day liberalism, whatever liberalism means.

2. Trade with China and drag them kicking and screaming from communism to a more equitable system, as happened in Eastern Europe 15 years ago. That's the smart approach. Communism will fall in China. But it will take years before a more free economic system will be fair. Sad, but true.

Therefore, ignore Mail on Sunday and just trade with China. Buy from Wal-Mart, buy from Apple. Stop being self righteous about Apple and China until you are perfect yourself. Then you can judge.

 

[mozmac]

We can't compare other countries to ours. $50 a month here in the US is horrible! However, that is the average income in MANY countries around the world. To these workers, $50 a month is better than ZERO dollars a month. I've stopped getting freaked out by stories like this after living in Mozambique, Africa for two years.

 

[longofest]

We can't compare other countries to ours. $50 a month here in the US is horrible! However, that is the average income in MANY countries around the world. To these workers, $50 a month is better than ZERO dollars a month. I've stopped getting freaked out by stories like this after living in Mozambique, Africa for two years.

They say Americans work too hard, but I know I don't work 15 hours per day. Remember there is more to the article than just the wage.

 

[ender78]

Every electronic product in your home has Chinese components. To completely
move manufacturing to US, would significantly increase costs. We're not just talking assembly, but the manufacturing of everything from the plastic case, to the headphone jack, to the printing of the manuals. Moving all of this work to the US would raise prices significantly.

Lets not forget that both India and China are developing nations. One cannot compare wages from country to country. As the economy grows, wages will go up.

Foxconn's 200,000 workers assemble many other electronics. I would love to see how many of products in the reporter's home were made in the factory complex.

 

[corvus]

Prices of groceries, housing don't go up due to affluence of the people in the neighborhood.

Yes, they do. It's basic supply and demand. The most expensive places to live are the popular affluent cities. That's just economic reality. You don't have to like this, but it's the truth. They are also the places with the lowest morality and among the highest crime rates. I live in Dallas, Texas and know this for a fact. I can go to the very weathly Park Cities part of Dallas and change much more for my services than I could receive in less affluent areas.

 

[ictiosapiens]

i've been to china, 50 to 150 bux goes a long way. And another thing, if you are concerned with the conditions at Apple's factories in China then you should be concerned with every factory in China cuz the conditions are the same in most of them, everything you see that says made in china was made by a laborer getting paid less that 100 bux a month

i'm not saying it's right i'm just saying they are picking on apple cuz they knew they would get alot of attention. In the 90s they would of said walkmans... see my point?

I dont think the main issue here are the wages, but the forced 12-15 HOUR DAY!!! that's just plain wrong... Even with decent wages that would mount up to a terrible quality of life...

 

[iJawn108]

This might have something to do with the recent Nike deal with the Nano. I kid I kid.

I'm sure Apple will look into it, they don't need bad publicity like "child slave workers building ipods for pennys a day". Bono wouldn't have anything of the sort.

 

[AppleDude]

Don't be a hypocrite

If you lived in China, I am pretty sure you, too, would prefer to work 12 hours/day over not having a job. THat sounds like a "right" decision, not "just wrong."

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Move those factories to the US! $1000 isn't too much to pay for an iPod Nano!

Not quite. It would be much much more expensive to assemble all the products in the US.

Dell and gateway do some of the assembly in the US to keep their priced DOWN.

Disturbing news. I don't think I could continue to support Apple until these problems are fixed.

What problems? I am being serious. AFAIK, these conditions are relativley good.

I just hope Apple comes out swinging, otherwise the bad PR has the ability to knock the iPod off it's high horse like nothing else.

 

[craigsharp@spym]

I'm sure someone has already said this, but the people are not employed by Apple. Those plants or SUPPLIERS. just like the people who put together Intel's motherboards are not employs of Intel, just a supplier. It is still wrong anyway you look at it, but it's not apple's fault that the Chinese labor laws suck big ones. The Chinese govt needs to fine the plants owners, which isnt apple.

 

[ictiosapiens]

If you lived in China, I am pretty sure you, too, would prefer to work 12 hours/day over not having a job. THat sounds like a "right" decision, not "just wrong."

They don't prefer to work 12 hours a day, they are forced(according to the article) to do so... To make a decision you normally have choices, I don't really see the choice here.

You are living in a compound, start work in the morning, 8 hours later you stand up, head out, and some guy says you have to sit your rear down for another 4 hours, you say "hell no, I'm going home" and the guard chuckles and says "what home? from this moment you don't have one"

So again, what decision???

 

[craigsharp@spym]

I dont think the main issue here are the wages, but the forced 12-15 HOUR DAY!!! that's just plain wrong... Even with decent wages that would mount up to a terrible quality of life...

I was forced to work 12-15 hours a day for 4 months at Gerber just before they laid me and 23 other people off. The plant is in Fort Smith, AR. my shift started at 3pm and was supposed to end at 1130pm but they made us stay until about 330 sometimes as late as 6 or the latest was 7 in the morning. They hired us on in january and then laid us off at the end of April. It does suck for a way of life.

 

[schatten]

That's business.

People

 

[rsmc77]

It’s sad. Apple doesn’t care - Just another "psychopathic" company.

Manipulative, Lack of remorse or guilt, Shallow emotional response, Callous/lack of empathy and Poor behavioural controls.

Welcome to the world of billion dollar corporations.

What???? Relax and give a little breathing room. Wait for Apple to check things out and see what happens first.

 

[theviceofreason]

Okay, no doubt Apple works for money. But Mail on Sunday? Who are they? Like CBS? Like Dan Rather? Like do you trust them? Being a working journalist, I sure don't.

Then, you have the current economic system in China, which is cruel and unfair.

So you have some choices:

1. Don't trade with China and starve them into starting a war. That's the approach of modern day liberalism, whatever liberalism means.

2. Trade with China and drag them kicking and screaming from communism to a more equitable system, as happened in Eastern Europe 15 years ago. That's the smart approach. Communism will fall in China. But it will take years before a more free economic system will be fair. Sad, but true.

Therefore, ignore Mail on Sunday and just trade with China. Buy from Wal-Mart, buy from Apple. Stop being self righteous about Apple and China until you are perfect yourself. Then you can judge.

Hmmm. The Mail on Sunday as a representative of "liberalism"? That's a first. Think Fox News in print (unless you think that's a good thing).

Of course, as a working journalist you'll appreciate that not every staffer shares the political, cultural and moral mores of the title he or she is employed by. Real journalism does still sneak through, even in these rags.