Apple factory workers forced to sign 'anti-suicide' pledge: report
Apple gets a lot of good PR; a perk, definitively, for being one of the world’s most recognizable brands.
But it’s not always good. Behind the iPads and iPhones have been long-standing allegations of employee abuse at Apple’s factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, where disgruntled workers jumping to their deaths famously prompted suicide nets being put up at site dormitories last year.
Though the plants are run by a company called Foxconn, they nonetheless fall under Apple’s umbrella, and the California-based tech giant is facing another potential nightmare in the form of new research into its operations.
According to two NGOs that conducted inquiries into work conditions at the Chinese factories – the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations and Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour – employees of the plants are treated “inhumanely” and “like machines.”
More concerning claims suggest that workers of the plant, who allegedly are forced into heavy overtime hours to meet western demand for Apple gadgets, have been urged to sign an “anti-suicide” pledge following reports of increased employee suicide.
Also, the study notes, when the first iPad came out in April, 2010, Chinese workers were “sometimes pressured” into taking only one day off in 13 ahead of the tablet’s release. In addition, one payslip from a plant worker allegedly showed overtime of 98 hours performed in a month, well over the legal limit of 36.
When it comes to overtime, it might be tough to fault workers for clamouring for more hours. Says the report, without OT, employees at the Apple plants would be forced to rely on their paltry wages: about $200 per month for a 48-hour work week, or $1.04 per hour.
A reminder: the above points are allegations against Apple and Foxconn, not facts. Yet that doesn’t mean they can’t help.
When similar allegations were made against Nike for using so-called sweatshops in the nineties, the athletic outfitter responded in a big way, revamping the labour conditions in its supplier factories at its own cost. By 2004, a staff of 97 was inspecting hundreds of Nike supplier plants, grading them on labour standards and working with managers to improve areas of conflicts.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
*Follow Jason on Twitter here.
Posted by: SP | May 6, 2021 9:49:26 PM
Anti-suicide pledges, what a great idea! Just imagine the money that could be saved by healthcare if MD's just got depressed patients to sign such forms instead of getting treatment.
As for the people at the factories working 98+ hrs of overtime a month because the pay is so low. It is understandable, they've been shown pictures of people in America who are living on the streets who are dying to take their jobs. Besides, speaking of Jobs... Apple can't afford to pay more, Apple products are priced too low as it is! (or not).
Posted by: Rossa P | May 7, 2021 12:56:53 PM
Yes, but Apple products make you fabulous :P
Posted by: cal | May 8, 2021 12:39:17 PM
the apple was the first seed.. Bill made it simple.. falling off the shelf was bound to happen
know one signs up for suicide.. the brightest mind may become strest to the point of crash and burn... teaching the flghit response may be the answe..r signing off on papper has nothing to do with anything.. liablity may be what's taking the fun out of happy.. teach happy.. make it law
plant the seed.. reap the benefit
cal
rock on.. hemp body parts for apple new age
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