Apple Outlines Milestone on Eliminating Conflict Minerals in 2016 Supplier Responsibility Report

[MacRumors]

Apple today released its 2016 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report [PDF] and updated its accompanying Supplier Responsibility website to offer a look at its 2015 efforts to improve the lives of the workers that produce and assemble its products.

Apple's focus in 2015 was on cutting down on excessive work hours and addressing bonded and underage labor practices. Work-hour compliance on Apple's 60-hour maximum workweek mandate reached 97 percent, up from 92 percent in 2014.

For its 10th annual progress report, Apple conducted 640 total audits and 21 unannounced audits, plus it closed 250 requests for environment, safety, and labor cases and conducted 25,000 follow-up interviews to ensure employers did not retaliate against workers for participating in Apple audits.

Apple's auditing process, in addition to assessing work conditions and interviewing workers, seeks out core violations like underage workers, involuntary labor, document falsification, retaliation against workers, unsafe working conditions, and significant environmental issues. Noncompliant suppliers are placed on probation and if issues are not addressed immediately, Apple terminates contracts.

In 2015, Apple suppliers paid out $4.7 million to reimburse workers that were contracted through unfair and excessive recruitment fees. Since 2008, Apple has forced its suppliers to pay out more than $25.6 million to workers to put an end to bonded labor.

Apple discovered three instances of child labor in 2015 at a single supplier. When suppliers are found hiring underage employees, they are required to return children to their homes, fund their education, and pay for basic living expenses.

In 2015 we found one facility, which was audited for the first time, in violation of employing underage labor. The number of audited facilities with underage labor dropped to 1 in 2015 from 6 in 2014 despite nearly 20 percent of facilities audited being new to the process.

There were 3 active cases of underage labor at this single facility. All three underage workers were 15 years old and the minimum age requirement is 16 years of age.

A full chart outlining labor and human rights violations at Apple supplier facilities gives an overall overview of how suppliers are living up to Apple's requirements. Apple has made progress on the prevention of underage labor and the prevention of involuntary labor, but wages and benefits continue to be an area where suppliers are underperforming.

Apple's reports include an environmental component, and in 2015, Apple succeeded in getting 100 percent of identified smelters and refiners in its supply chain to participate in a third-party conflict minerals audit program to ensure suppliers are not financing armed conflict. In an interview with BuzzFeed, Apple operations chief Jeff Williams said achieving that goal required kicking out 35 suppliers that "we were unable to convince to do things in the way we think are appropriate."

Apple also improved conditions in tin mines in Indonesia, which were previously environmentally unsound and unsafe for workers.

In 2015, Apple and the Tin Working Group conducted investigative research on the ground, and worked with civil society organizations and mining companies to define a five-year regulatory reform strategy of tin mining best practices. Together we are also drafting standards and guidelines to help buyers of tin identify responsible sources in the global marketplace.

The Indonesian government is now evolving its own policies for tin production and the environmental impacts of mining.

Over the course of 2015, Apple reduced carbon emissions by 13.8k metric tons and diverted 73.7k metric tons of waste from landfills through a new waste diversion program. Since 2013, 3.8 billion gallons of freshwater have been saved through a Clean Water Program, and 100 percent of chemicals at Apple's final assembly facilities are free of Apple-prohibited substances.

Apple's Supplier Responsibility report is a surprisingly interesting read, with the full document accessible through Apple's dedicated Supplier Responsibility website.

Article Link: Apple Outlines Milestone on Eliminating Conflict Minerals in 2016 Supplier Responsibility Report

 

[kerrikins]

Good to see I'm curious as to whether other companies are so forthcoming with the details of their business.

 

[rictus007]

Good to see I'm curious as to whether other companies are so forthcoming with the details of their business.

I don't thing that will happen, as usual hate towards Apple seems to sell more newspapers

 

[oneMadRssn]

Kind of off topic, but it's a bit funny to see the worker has a number on his chest rather than a name tag.

 

[smacrumon]

Good, Apple. Thank you. Please do even better though. Value your workforce outside the USA at your contracted factories around the world through proper increased payments and conditions that are at least equivalent to those in the US. Everyone that touches an Apple product in its production at an offshore supplier should receive no less than the wage payments and working conditions as someone in California, USA, manufacturing a product there. Foxcomm et al employees are Apple employees. Apple, please do not discriminate, you now have the financial ability to treat all employees equally and fairly so please do so.

 

[Max(IT)]

Say what you want, but I like this company.

Sure, profits are they target, but there are several ways to gain profits. I like Apple's way.
[doublepost=1459363090][/doublepost]

Kind of off topic, but it's a bit funny to see the worker has a number on his chest rather than a name tag.

we don't know if the number identifies the worker or the department he is working in...

 

[NervousFish2]

The challenge of setting and maintaining standards in the context of complex global supply chains is a shockingly difficult one. In some ways, of course, the reality of global capitalism bends even the best of these efforts towards compromise. This is a problem. Yet, in the absence of meaningful movements to address it, consumer pressure for transparency and enforcement of standards remains an important, primary level for maintaining equitable standards for workers around the world. Apple is doing better and better, in terms of environmental reports, in terms of maintaining user privacy and security, and in terms of setting a high bar for fair treatment of workers in its supply chain. These achievements are tangible. The real question is: how to raise and strengthen these commitments, even further!

 

[Rogifan]

Good, Apple. Thank you. Please do even better though. Value your workforce outside the USA at your contracted factories around the world through proper increased payments and conditions that are at least equivalent to those in the US. Everyone that touches an Apple product in its production at an offshore supplier should receive no less than the wage payments and working conditions as someone in California, USA. Apple, you now have the financial ability to treat all workers equally so please do so.

So someone working in a Foxconn factory should be paid the same as an engineer who helped develop the Apple Pencil?

 

[smacrumon]

So someone working in a Foxconn factory should be paid the same as an engineer who helped develop the Apple Pencil?

Paid the equivalent appropriate rate as someone manufacturing a product in the USA.

 

[Max(IT)]

Good, Apple. Thank you. Please do even better though. Value your workforce outside the USA at your contracted factories around the world through proper increased payments and conditions that are at least equivalent to those in the US. Everyone that touches an Apple product in its production at an offshore supplier should receive no less than the wage payments and working conditions as someone in California, USA. Apple, you now have the financial ability to treat all employees equally and fairly so please do so.

That's just a non sense....
Life's cost in China is different from California and from Europe.
Wages are to be set according to the job you are doing and the place you are living.

BTW Apple isn't paying Foxconn workers. Apple pays Apple's employees, while Foxconn pays Foxconn's employees...

 

[Kabeyun]

So someone working in a Foxconn factory should be paid the same as an engineer who helped develop the Apple Pencil?

Not commenting of feasibility or reasonableness, but he's talking about equivalent work. A Foxconn assembly line worker shouldn't earn what Tim Cook earns either.

 

[NervousFish2]

So someone working in a Foxconn factory should be paid the same as an engineer who helped develop the Apple Pencil?

Actually, its not quite the zero-sum game you imply here. It really depends on what you want from the labor market. Do you want a race to the bottom, where ultimately workers can't even afford to buy the stuff you're trying to sell to them? Or do you want an equitable society, where equity itself becomes a major driver for demand for your products, lifting you again in terms of your profitability? To sidestep this question by asking whether workers engaged in work of different levels of skill should be paid the same, is not to ask an economic question: it is to ask a moral question. And the premises of that moral question need to stated explicitly! Do we believe lives are valuable in this world solely on the basis of the value the market sets for their labor?

 

[kemal]

Good.

Perhaps no headphone jacks means no tantalum capacitors. (They can use something crappy for the internal speakers.)

 

[smacrumon]

That's just a non sense....
Life's cost in China is different from California and from Europe.
Wages are to be set according to the job you are doing and the place you are living.

BTW Apple isn't paying Foxconn workers. Apple pays Apple's employees, while Foxconn pays Foxconn's employees...

No, wages are to be set according to the job you are doing, end of sentence. Foxxconn employees are Apple employees. If workers are essentially working soley for one supplier then nothing further needs to be said.

 

[Max(IT)]

Not commenting of feasibility or reasonableness, but he's talking about equivalent work. A Foxconn assembly line worker shouldn't earn what Tim Cook earns either.

that's up to Foxconn to decide.

 

[Rogifan]

Paid the equivalent appropriate rate as someone manufacturing a product in the USA.

Apple doesn't pay them Foxconn does. You can't compare China and the USA. For one thing cost of living is vastly different.

No, wages are to be set according to the job you are doing, end of sentence.

So you think there should be a global wage? Who decides what that wage is?

 

[Max(IT)]

No, wages are to be set according to the job you are doing, end of sentence.

says who ? you ?
For example, $1000 in China you can live, $1000 in California you barely survive.
Your argument is a non sense....

 

[smacrumon]

Not commenting of feasibility or reasonableness, but he's talking about equivalent work. A Foxconn assembly line worker shouldn't earn what Tim Cook earns either.

Thanks, it's clear that's what I'm talking about. I wasn't suggesting a production line worker be paid the equivalent of another job classification.
[doublepost=1459364621][/doublepost]

Actually, its not quite the zero-sum game you imply here. It really depends on what you want from the labor market. Do you want a race to the bottom, where ultimately workers can't even afford to buy the stuff you're trying to sell to them? Or do you want an equitable society, where equity itself becomes a major driver for demand for your products, lifting you again in terms of your profitability? To sidestep this question by asking whether workers engaged in work of different levels of skill should be paid the same, is not to ask an economic question: it is to ask a moral question. And the premises of that moral question need to stated explicitly! Do we believe lives are valuable in this world solely on the basis of the value the market sets for their labor?

Beautiful and eloquent.

 

[meaning-matters]

Very sad that paying the teenagers that make our luxury goods is worst.

 

[smacrumon]

says who ? you ?
For example, $1000 in China you can live, $1000 in California you barely survive.
Your argument is a non sense....

Cherry picking and providing irrelevant comparisons as you race to the bottom while sitting their all comfy waiting for your next iDevice to be built. What a reflection of the lack of humanity embedded in your posts.
[doublepost=1459365461][/doublepost]

Apple doesn't pay them Foxconn does. You can't compare China and the USA. For one thing cost of living is vastly different.



So you think there should be a global wage? Who decides what that wage is?

Apple pays Foxcomm. The workers essentially are Apple workers for all intended purposes in creating their devices. Apple must pay correct wages to all its employees. Foxcomm employees are Apple employees.

 

[Skika]

Cherry picking and providing irrelevant comparisons as you race to the bottom while sitting their all comfy waiting for your next iDevice to be built. What a reflection of the lack of humanity embedded in your posts.

How was it irrelevant? You play on emotions but lack understanding of basic economics.

 

[smacrumon]

How was it irrelevant? You play on emotions but lack understanding of basic economics.

I'm not playing on emotions. I'm simply giving an opinion and people are outraged because it conflicts with their own struggle with emotions on the topic. The economics in what I suggest are solid, they might be frightening to shareholders, but the economics are solid nonetheless.

 

[Rogifan]

Cherry picking and providing irrelevant comparisons as you race to the bottom while sitting their all comfy waiting for your next iDevice to be built. What a reflection of the lack of humanity embedded in your posts.
[doublepost=1459365461][/doublepost]
Apple pays Foxcomm. The workers essentially are Apple workers for all intended purposes in creating their devices. Apple must pay correct wages to all its employees. Foxcomm employees are Apple employees.

Foxconn employees are not Apple employees. Do you know how much they're paid? I don't. Why are you assuming they're not paid a decent wage?

 

[applesith]

I'm not playing on emotions. I'm simply giving an opinion and people are outraged because it conflicts with their own struggle with emotions on the topic. The economics in what I suggest are solid, they might be frightening to shareholders, but the economics are solid nonetheless.

Your entire POV is based on emotions. According to your "economics", then the Foxconn workers should also be paying California prices for housing, food, utilities, clothes and everything else. Stop feeling the bern and learn basic economics and how you cannot apply one area's standard/cost of living to another.

 

[cerote]

Cherry picking and providing irrelevant comparisons as you race to the bottom while sitting their all comfy waiting for your next iDevice to be built. What a reflection of the lack of humanity embedded in your posts.
[doublepost=1459365461][/doublepost]
Apple pays Foxcomm. The workers essentially are Apple workers for all intended purposes in creating their devices. Apple must pay correct wages to all its employees. Foxcomm employees are Apple employees.

So since the clients at my work pay us then I work for them and should get their pay right.

Nope I work for a company that supplies a service to our clients. The clients have no say in who gets paid what and what level. That is determined by our company. Clients can make request in contracts on certain things but it is not about pay. If they wanted to do that then they would just do everything in-house at higher cost.

As like Foxconn we have more than one client thus can do the job cheaper than if the client did it themselves because we have the resources and technology development already in cost for us.