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BBC Documentary Claims Apple Fails to Protect Chinese Factory Workers

captain cadet said:
BBC unlike American Tv isn't paid for by advertising but my a tv license which everyone in the UK with a TV has (including me). Though you Americans think "they should learn from us where we don't pay for our tv" which is fair enough as some channels are free but the BBC give very high quality TV show and as very high quality news service - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news
You get to make your own mind up of what you think and it's a lot less dramatic which makes the news seem more important - none of these you get in the USA, ;)
Next time have a quick google on a company before you comment on them :D
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Why so single tracked ? It's not just BBC. The individuals producing the show can also gain from more viewership. It doesn't have to be just advertisement for the show. It can be career advancement, better prospect in the future, payment outside the show, and whatever yardsticks they measure their productions with.

What's funny is they don't have to position this as BBC vs Apple in the first place. They could have won even bigger with BBC + Apple + Chinese government working together to address teething issues.
 
Racism may be the wrong word for it....

I'm not sure this about Americans deciding that all Asians are stupid and need our assistance to figure things out? If THAT was what was going on, then sure .... it might be labeled racism against Asians.

It's more of a problem with nationalism, really. U.S. citizens are often rather brainwashed into believing that the U.S.A. is the only country in the world helping all of the oppressed people under dictatorships or Communism/Socialism, because by contrast, "we've got it all figured out" so much better than everyone else does.

I'm as against Socialism or Communism as anyone. (I advocate for SMALL government, as in as little as is absolutely necessary, with an automatic distrust of it.) But it's rather twisted to pretend that an American business with facilities overseas is the one responsible for fixing any perceived injustices related to the prevailing culture there.

If the BBC wants to do documentaries about the living and working conditions in China today, great. But quit tying it to the bogus line that it's all about "Apple and failed promises". Most companies over there would completely ignore the labor practices taking place, as long as they receive the products they're paying to have assembled. Because Apple cared a little more about it than most, they wind up in the middle of all the accusations and finger-pointing.

It's a problem their own GOVERNMENT has to address, because if THEY won't enforce labor laws at that level, there's no hope of real change. (At best, you've got a game of Apple demanding one thing, while Asian management learns to get better and better at lying and pretending they did what Apple asked, while offering the cheap labor people paid them for in the first place the rest of the time.)

The only other alternative is for THEIR citizens to rise up against their government, if they feel it won't offer them any protections.


AppleMad98004 said:
I really don't give a crap about this. If the Chinese government isn't regulating labor laws and the people don't rise up and topple the communist government why is it Apple's problem. I bet there would be an out cry if the Chinese State TV did the same at a UK factory.

There is a lot of racism in this. We in the West need to take care of you because you and your government are too stupid to do so.
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For all the crap Apple gets about the companies it hires to do its assembly, it's a wonder that they even try at all. They could just do nothing and get about the same amount of bad press. Until Apple turns all of east Asia into a worker's paradise (fat chance) there will be articles about how they've "broken their promise".
 
nikon1 said:
Truly "If It Bleeds - It Leads" journalism - which isn't journalism at all - it's profiteering on the back of the story.

BBC - I thought better of you!
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they dont make profit from it stop talking ****

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OneBagTravel said:
Hatchet job on the BBCs behalf.

Their victim approach to journalism has really ran it's course. I recall the BBC at one time being a fair and middle of the road source for news.

Time for them to purge their staff and find a new lead editor.
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compared to your countries news agencies it is very middle of the road
 
Another day, another Apple hit-piece. How about some of you investigative journalists look into Samsung's labor practices? I bet you'd find the same things. Everyone loves low prices, and then is shocked when manufacturing abuses (labor, environment, corruption) are found in China.
 
Rogifan said:
What about the hypocrisy of all the flaming liberals who complain about this yet continue to purchase Apple products? If it bothers you so much stop buying their products. Fewer people buying Apple products equals less profit for Apple. ;)
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Unfortunately for you, free speech does allow people to complain about business practices of American companies in an attempt to better those practices. The above argument is similar to the "if you don't like it, go back to Africa" statements during the civil rights movement (and beyond).

PS I despise liberalism, but do love to point out its hypocrisy.
 
Not sure why Apple is ever implicated in this. It's not like if my accountant wasn't paying his secretary enough and was making her work too much that an article would come out with my name in it in the newspaper
 
AppleMad98004 said:
There is a lot of racism in this. We in the West need to take care of you because you and your government are too stupid to do so.
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On the other hand, taking advantage of the exploitation and not caring because the affected are foreign is probably not racist at all.
 
IbisDoc said:
Unfortunately for you, free speech does allow people to complain about business practices of American companies in an attempt to better those practices. The above argument is similar to the "if you don't like it, go back to Africa" statements during the civil rights movement (and beyond).

PS I despise liberalism, but do love to point out its hypocrisy.
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And I think it's hypocritical to complain that Apple is ignoring the plight of poor Chinese workers so they can rake in more profits while at the same time continuing to purchase Apple products that contribute to the very profits these people despise.
 
Watching the under cover documentary now. So I'm thinking if It was really undercover, how have they managed to get their hands on so many pay slips to ascertain hours worked?
 
Gav2k said:
Yet they fail to report that these hard done by people are paid a fair wage by there countries going rate and there there by CHOICE. It's not forced labour!
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Nonsense. Your understanding of the word "choice" is as poor as your grammar and spelling. If I tell you to jump off a cliff or I'll shoot you - you could argue there's some kind of choice you have - but not a meaningful one. Further the fact these workers may be paid within the scope of what is legal says nothing about the fairness of what is legal. Slavery was legal at some point you wouldn't argue it was fair.
 
I love the political stories. They always bring out the reactionaries, survival-of-the-fittest types, social darwinists and just plain old practitioners of the religion that is Apple. One would get a similar result by criticizing Islam or Christianity.

Meanwhile the relatively rich people in the first world can keep getting their Apple fix on without having to worry about how crappy it is in some other parts of the world.
 
Renzatic said:
I used to love the BBC, then they attacked something I liked. Nowadays, when I hear the letters, B, B, and C put together, I get all indignant and kneejerky.

Because how dare they! HOW DARE THEY! I was totally with them when they painted things I hated in a negative light. They told the truth then, and had integrity. But attacking something I like? That's a step too far! They're obviously doing it just for the money these days!
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Hit it right on the nail. :apple:
 
I'm for what the BBC are investigating, but right now they're shining far too much of the spotlight on how the raw materials are sourced. While I agree that's a huge issue, it's something that Apple can't directly solve but something only the government can solve. Possible as long as the government doesn't have deals with Apple, but the Chinese government isn't corrupt is it?
 
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