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Fair Labor Association Begins Auditing Foxconn's Manufacturing Facilities at Apple's Request
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Where was the press and the hysterical calls for boycott when this happened (and apparently, still happens) on the soil of the USA ?
It only counts if Apple is the "bad guy". All other companies are wonderful, so that report was probably a lie.
Have you been to the US lately? Try working as a factory worker and see what benefits you are getting.
Who says Apple doesn't enforce this? Every year the number of violations has gone down, and companies who didn't accept this lost Apple as their customers. And I wonder how many US companies would fail an audit.
Look at Apple's site where they report the audit data, and have a look at the development since 2007. Looks very much like "progress" and "positive change". Of course the audits are voluntary - a company can disagree to allow audits if they want to lose business with Apple.
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Sounds like my Aunt. No matter who does what, she's sure it's not right or enough. Needless to say, she's a very single woman (and has been for more years than she admits,)
Apple gets called out and, as one Chinese rights leader said, we go after Apple because we get press; the others won't get us the press.
Apple the first tech company to join FLA, critics of all things say that doesn't mean anything.
Apple agrees to FLA monitoring working conditions, manufacturing facilities, residential facilities, both dorms and other...and now,,,the people who know more than the people on the ground, cast doubts before it even starts.
Hard to pay attention after a while.
Come on RP, you're smarter than that. Were Apple to manufacture here, their costs would rise by way more than just labor costs.
I'm glad to see Apple leading the way. Being the largest company in the world, they need to set a good example. They still have a very long way to go.
care to list some.
Things that can not be used are insurance and other employee benefits since those are part of labor cost and as such are factored into labor cost.
Progress yes. But based on the audit reports - they had something like a ~70% compliance. That means a lot of businesses aren't living up to Apple's standards. Yet - and I think I am remembering this right - only 1 (it could be up to three. I honestly forget) of the businesses that didn't meet compliance were reported as having their relationship terminated.
Truth is - Apple (since it's their report and their audits) can easily say they terminated because of X even if it was Y. And with only 70 or so % compliance - what's being done to elevate everyone closer to 90-100 percent?
Does Apple consider 70% compliance ok? What is their baseline. At what point do they terminate their relationship.
Most, if not all of the report AND the website section dedicated to it is PR.
I agree that it's a solid step in the right direction. That doesn't mean, however, that I'm no longer critical. As has been said, I do hope that what FLA sees corresponds with the true working conditions (Although them being independent does help). I also hope that, partly depending on FLA's findings, the necessary follow-up steps will be taken as well. Wouldn't be the first time that a process for better working conditions gets stalled.
What I meantersay is, I applaud this step, but it's by no means over after this. Will be interesting to see how this develops.
translations. Greed and not willing to spend the little extra to move it here.
Also in the US there would require fewer employees to produce the same amount of stuff. Reason being is over in Asia it human labor is cheap so they use humans as robots. If it was done in the US they would use more robots.
Simple fact is they are over there to pad the highers ups bottom lines. Like most companies they do not give a damn about the middle class. It would be up the governments to pass laws more or less forcing companies like Apple to do what they used to do in the pass which is manufacturing in home countries.
The excuse Apple gave is weak at best. It pretty saying they are not willing to invest in the US that have higher labor cost.
I notice that the AP story—the one being re-printed everywhere—makes it sound like:
a) This is happening AFTER recent “outcries” against evil Apple. (The FLA arrangement was already in place, because Apple did the right thing BEFORE it became a media ad-grab.)
and b) This is happening TO Apple, not because of Apple and at Apple’s request.
You have to get 2/3 of the way through the article to find out that Apple (and only Apple!) joined the FLA voluntarily.
Great reporting They do mention non-Apple companies... in passing.
The AP headline is Independent group inspecting Apple suppliers, when it should be, Electronics makers have yet to follow Apple's lead in seeking Fair Labor Association inspections.
As I’ve said before, the problems are real, but putting maximum public blame on the company who is addressing them the best doesn’t seem like the solution. Attack the whole electronics industry instead, and point out what some of them (i.e. Apple) have done right.
a) This is happening AFTER recent “outcries” against evil Apple. (The FLA arrangement was already in place, because Apple did the right thing BEFORE it became a media ad-grab.)
and b) This is happening TO Apple, not because of Apple and at Apple’s request.
You have to get 2/3 of the way through the article to find out that Apple (and only Apple!) joined the FLA voluntarily.
Great reporting
They do mention non-Apple companies... in passing.The AP headline is Independent group inspecting Apple suppliers, when it should be, Electronics makers have yet to follow Apple's lead in seeking Fair Labor Association inspections.
As I’ve said before, the problems are real, but putting maximum public blame on the company who is addressing them the best doesn’t seem like the solution. Attack the whole electronics industry instead, and point out what some of them (i.e. Apple) have done right.
Oh please. You seem to think a company can just trash its infrastructure, turn on a dime and start manufacturing in the US. Quite naive. Aside of the human costs, there are many others.
who says turn on a dime because that is you.
But they could start moving some things over here and start the process.
I'm not as skeptical as you are.
Of course if the purpose of an audit is to placate the masses then that's the best it has a chance of doing. But I believe Apple and FLA really want to improve working conditions in Chinese factories. It's easy to pass a superficial audit where the aditors are hired not to find anything. But experienced auditors are not so easy to fool when they are serious about finding violations. They can be unannounced. Interviews can be conducted without management knowing of what is being asked of whom. Auditors can actually verify the age of random workers.
Apple has been doing audits but clearly they haven't been enough or haven't been done well enought. Apparently they were pre-annouced so any violations could be temporarily hidden. I'm hopeful FLA and Apple will not wink their way through these audits.
From the Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Labor_Association
WAAKE-UP! was also critical of the Fair Labor Association as much of its funding comes from organizations it monitors, creating a potential conflict of interest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Labor_Association
WAAKE-UP! was also critical of the Fair Labor Association as much of its funding comes from organizations it monitors, creating a potential conflict of interest.
The problem with your suggestions is that they make it rather clear you're operating in a world detached from reality. My comments are taking on a more expansive focus than simply Foxconn, but that only further highlights the problem with your suggestions.
Comparative advantage is the only reason companies outsource production and other tasks. Your suggestions, however, eliminate that comparative advantage. The end result is that all production occurs here in the United States.
For the Chinese workers, they lose out. Significantly. By nearly any metric, these sorts of factory jobs offer a quality of living significantly beyond the alternatives (and in far greater numbers, as well) available in these countries. Even if wages were only equivalent, I can't stress enough how much worse it is to have no job in such a situation. Of course, they could always settle for pine bark like North Korean peasants have had to. And if things get really bad, there's always human flesh--also something that was resorted to during the famines in the mid-nineties.
But here's the kicker: those alternatives, as have been identified and measured, amount to roughly the following: sorting through garbage for refuse that's editable and/or usable, or if they're really lucky, prostitution (particularly the child variety).
Poor conditions and a dearth of food aren't issues limited to the factories or even what people call "sweatshops." They're a way of life in these countries, particularly those that are even further behind than China.
But the fix isn't just throwing money at the problem, nor is it in "fixing" working conditions. On the contrary, those are the very means by which you'll not only exasperate the problems, but indeed, ensure that they continue for years to come: nullifying the comparative advantage eliminates any need whatsoever to contract with overseas factories.
At which point, production moves back to highly mechanized domestic factories. For those of you who think that such a situation would then somehow create a myriad of magical jobs here, it won't: we're very, very good at building highly efficient factories here. But more than that, it hurts the economy as a whole: when you graduate to analysis above the simplistic, you're able to recognize the inherent problems in trying to do everything yourself without consideration of comparative advantage. In short, doing everything yourself is *not* the way to economic growth.
Even if that weren't the case, the worker is still screwed just the same.
Overall, the greatest danger these workers face isn't their workplace: it's the westerners who want to help them. In that respect, you might as well just give them a blanket full of smallpox while you're at it.
And plenty of the European socialist countries are going bankrupt because people want to have it all given to them.
It is a different culture in the East. People not only work 12 hours minimum a day, but kids go to school 6 days a week for 12 hours a day under deplorable conditions. Why not start complaining about that to and force Americans to pay for their schools too.
Total nonsense.
Apple is extremely diligent at following up and demanding that all audit findings are corrected if you wish to continue to be a supplier.
Quit spouting this worthless drivel.