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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsiEmpire: Apple's Sordid Business Practices Are Even Worse Than You Think
The article claims "Apple is directly dependent on forced labor."
http://www.alternet.org/story/154043/iempire%3A_apple%27s_sordid_business_practices_are_even_worse_than_you_think/?page=entire
iEmpire: Apple's Sordid Business Practices Are Even Worse Than You Think
New research goes beyond the New York Times to show just how disturbing labor conditions at Foxconn, the "Chinese hell factory," really are.
February 7, 2012 |
Behind the sleek face of the iPad is an ugly backstory that has revealed once more the horrors of globalization. The buzz about Apples sordid business practices is courtesy of the New York Times series on the iEconomy. In some ways its well reported but adds little new to what critics of the Taiwan-based Foxconn, the worlds largest electronics manufacturer, have been saying for years. The series' biggest impact may be discomfiting Apple fanatics who as they read the articles realize that the iPad they are holding is assembled from child labor, toxic shop floors, involuntary overtime, suicidal working conditions, and preventable accidents that kill and maim workers.
It turns out the story is much worse. Researchers with the Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) say that legions of vocational and university students, some as young as 16, are forced to take months'-long internships in Foxconns mainland China factories assembling Apple products. The details of the internship program paint a far more disturbing picture than the Times does of how Foxconn, the Chinese hell factory, treats its workers, relying on public humiliation, military discipline, forced labor and physical abuse as management tools to hold down costs and extract maximum profits for Apple.
To supply enough employees for Foxconn, the 60th largest corporation globally, government officials are serving as lead recruiters at the cost of pushing teenage students into harsh work environments. The scale is astonishing with the Henan provincial government having announced in both 2010 and 2011 that it would send 100,000 vocational and university students to work at Foxconn, according to SACOM.
Ross Perlin, author of Intern Nation, told AlterNet that Foxconn is conspiring with government officials and universities in China to run what may be the world's single largest internship program and one of the most exploitative. Students at vocational schools including those whose studies have nothing to do with consumer electronics are literally forced to move far from home to work for Foxconn, threatened that otherwise they won't be allowed to graduate. Assembling our iPhones and Kindles for meager wages, they work under the same conditions, or worse, as other workers in the Foxconn sweatshops.
more...
onehandle
(51,122 posts)Acer Inc.
Amazon.com
ASRock
Asus
Barnes & Noble
Cisco
Dell
EVGA Corporation
Hewlett-Packard
Intel
IBM
Lenovo
Logitech
Microsoft
MSI
Motorola
Netgear
Nintendo
Nokia
Panasonic
Philips
Samsung
Sharp
Sony Ericsson
Toshiba
Vizio
All electronics, be it in your computer, your phone, your car, or even your refrigerator, are overwhelmingly made in China, in the same factories that Apple uses.
Wish it was otherwise.
FredisDead
(392 posts)do the Chinese people protest against for breaking chinese labor laws?
One - Apple
Apple's Suppliers Continuously Violate Code of Conduct, Apple Does Nothing to Change It
http://www.dailytech.com/Report+Apples+Suppliers+Continuously+Violate+Code+of+Conduct+Apple+Does+Nothing+to+Change+It/article23867.htm
Atman
(31,464 posts)You likely sent that message on something made by Foxconn. But make sure you focus only on Apple. It makes you superior.
Pholus
(4,062 posts)Yeah, I'm sure I have foxconn manufactured stuff -- of course, I bought it because I needed a paricular gismo that sadly is no longer manufactured HERE, not because I bought a product from the BESTEST COMPANY ON EARTH (tm). Nor would I pay a surtax just for the fancy logo.
Besides, I heard Apple's message to the President. The jobs are NOT coming back. Fine, that's just business in the free trade world I guess. But if I am going to have to buy from these manufacturers, I certainly won't pay more than I have to. That's just the market.
Atman
(31,464 posts)I just saw the ad for the latest HP notebook/laptop, whatever the hell it's called. It's nothing special, just a small laptop with long battery life. Gosh, how did they do that? Well, it's solid state, meaning no power-hog hard drive. Amazing! Except for that Apple's MacBook Air has been out for over a year. The HP price starts at $999. You know what that "premium" over-priced MacBook Air costs? $999. Both are made by Foxconn.
My point is as originally stated: don't let facts get in the way of some good Apple bashing!
Pholus
(4,062 posts)My laptop is five years old. I carry an extra power cell and invested the money I saved from not buying a new one for retirement. That laptop is paying ME to keep using it.
My desktop is a P4 from 2004. With a lot of RAM and a few replacement parts it is more than sufficient. The money I saved from that was spent on a family vacation -- kids grow up quickly after all.
Imagine how much better life would be if we didn't discard last year's gismo in favor of the latest and greatest on some knee-jerk lark. Imagine the toxic tailings that wouldn't get dumped needlessly and imagine the warehouses full of electronic discards that wouldn't be creating recycling problems.
The mere fact you are upset by a post that might reflect badly on your brandname of choice says that perhaps less advertising might be a good way to improve your life.
Atman
(31,464 posts)My current computer is about as old as yours, so nanny-nanny boo-boo! It's a Mac, though, I will admit -- a G5 iMac. And believe me, my computers have all paid me to use them! In fact, I got that G5 to do an animation job for a clients. It cost me about $1500, and I made $10,000. And I still use it to this day. Last upgrade was a 2 terabyte raid array for backup so I can go on using it for many more years.
I think you entirely missed the point of my HP post -- you did the usual "Apple is too expensive" blah blah blah post, and I merely pointed out that the supposed hot new HP laptop being advertised, basically their rip-off of the considerably older MacBook Air, still costs the same price. Pound for pound, feature for feature, that tired old refrain that Apple products are over-priced and too expensive just never holds water, unless you're one of those guys that likes to "build their own" from bailing wire, toothpicks and old parts from the computer scrap yard. Those guys can never be satisfied.
Please don't assume that your post "upset" me. You give yourself way too much credit! (BTW, I work for an advertising agency...less advertising would not improve my life ).
GeorgeGist
(25,324 posts)is touching and lucrative.
Atman
(31,464 posts)What is your recommendation? Tell me of a solid, reliable platform that our IT guy can maintain, and that runs all the current software required by our printers and other media people...one that has no parts coming from Foxconn or some other Chinese sweat shop. It might be hard so spot one from way up high on that horse.
I didn't outsource the jobs. I'd MUCH prefer to have them all here, in union shops paying competitive wages. Fantasy land.
.
Pholus
(4,062 posts)It's old, but it says anything I'd consider saying next but with much more style.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/feb/05/comment.media
And in parting, it's a bit late to claim you're not upset after displaying a massive hissy fit caused by someone (Not me as you asserted, but the OP) daring to connect Apple with the ugly realities of technology.
Think different!
Atman
(31,464 posts)That's rich! You read an opinion you disagree with and suddenly it's a massive hissy fit. Others might simply call it a difference of opinion.
MichaelMcGuire
(1,684 posts)Pholus
(4,062 posts)It says it all. So in the end be prepared and carry what you need.
Garlic for Vampires
Silver Bullets for Werewolves
Charlie Booker for the cult of the Apple
MichaelMcGuire
(1,684 posts)Eid Ma Clack Shaw
(490 posts)Temptation, eh?
Pholus
(4,062 posts)Nothing but 100% positive...
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)This article does humanity a service by shedding light on the horrible conditions to hopefully change peoples perceptions on the value of a toy over human rights.
And as you pointed out shunning Apple is quite far from enough.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)Apple appeals to a left-leaning demo. There is no mistaking that. Shouldn't the company
that sells predominantly to the left also espouse its values? I think so, and I think that is
the subtext to much of the Apple critique.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Bonhomme Richard
(9,000 posts)drive down Apple stock or something. It strikes me fishy that all of a sudden there are tons of articles focusing on one company when many are at fault.
Strike me as competitor driven. Wow am I a cynic.
MattBaggins
(7,905 posts)Too cynical to care?
Sgent
(5,857 posts)Its just that:
1) This issue is pervasive in the tech industry. Apple is one of (basically) all the computer manufacturers which have these problems.
2) Apple actually has in place, and enforces to some extent, labor agreements to a much stronger standard than most other tech companies. They are still shitty, but their shit smells better.
I absolutely abhor the current conditions, and the system that effectively keeps workers from unionizing. I hope that the pressure put on Apple eventually works to raise the standards; however, this should have been part of WTO entry and our bi-lateral trade agreements with China.
Bonhomme Richard
(9,000 posts)that this rings of some sort of Corporate bad PR blitz against Apple. There have been too many different stories from different writers keeping this going mentioning Apple in particular when so many others are also involved. If you think that corporations don't specifically do things like this for some sort of monetary advantage you are naive.
Zalatix
(8,994 posts)They used to be here just a few weeks ago arguing about how all this offshoring was giving the poor people of the world a better life.
Haven't seen hide nor hair of these fine fella's since the last big Foxconn news wave.
I'd call them out by name but that's against the rules...
SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)Locrian
(4,522 posts)With great "power" is supposed to come great responsibility.... Apple is what? #1, #2 valued company? Step up and make a difference. In other words "think different" or is that just a marketing blurb?
Apple sells a lot on image. The image of smiling happy people creatively solving problems and enjoying life. Live by it, die by it - if nothing else fix your (apple's) image.
Redstate Bluegirl
(213 posts)Did you see the treatment Steve Jobs got in the news when he died?
Response to Karmadillo (Original post)
Post removed
boppers
(16,588 posts)Imagine that.
I get it, really, I do.
1) I bought slave labor gear, because it was cheap! It's Apple!
2) I bought gear that was *even cheaper* than Apple, who even cares about labor?
Not cool.
girl gone mad
(20,634 posts)Seriously. Fuck the slave-labor using, child-abusing, lawbreaking scumbags that put their insatiable greed above basic human decency.
They deserve to be bashed, relentlessly.
boppers
(16,588 posts)Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
Amazon.com (United States)
ASRock (Taiwan)
Asus (Taiwan)
Barnes & Noble (United States)
Cisco (United States)
Dell (United States)
EVGA Corporation (United States)
Gateway (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)
Intel (United States)
IBM (United States)
Lenovo (China)
Microsoft (United States)
MSI (Taiwan)
Motorola (United States)
Netgear (United States)
Nintendo (Japan)
Nokia (Finland)
Panasonic (Japan)
Samsung (South Korea)
Sharp (Japan)
Sony (Japan)
Sony Ericsson (Japan/Sweden)
Toshiba (Japan)
Vizio (United States)
?
It's all the same Foxconn factories. The very same "slave-labor using, child-abusing, lawbreaking scumbags" likely built numerous high-tech devices in your house. This is not about Apple. It's about an entire industry.
Paulie
(8,462 posts)Like I can for Apple? http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/
girl gone mad
(20,634 posts)If it were an actual audit, you would see the names of the suppliers who violated child labor, minimum wage and work safety laws.
As Bill Black wrote, Apple is engaged in massive control fraud and the "audits" are just one facet of this anti-employee control fraud.
Paulie
(8,462 posts)Or no matter the effort it's just PR?