| Abstract |
In May 2011, Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) released a report, titled Foxconn and Apple Fail to Fulfill Promises: Predicaments of Workers after the Suicides, which documented the labour rights conditions at the Foxconn plant in Chengdu, China, a supplier of the iPad. Workers frequently endure excessive and forced overtime in order to gain a higher wage. If they cannot reach the production target, they have to skip dinner or work on unpaid overtime shifts. Even worse, they are threatened by potential harm from occupational diseases in various departments. Additionally, military-style management practices are still in place, characterized by “military training” for new workers. A month later, SACOM released its report, a short video clip, the Truth of the Apple iPad Behind Foxconn’s Lies, was launched to reveal the poor working conditions at the Foxconn factory in Chengdu. Four months on, SACOM has not heard any response from Apple. Likewise, after the explosion at Foxconn’s plant in Chengdu, which caused 3 deaths and 15 injuries, neither Apple nor Foxocnn has given any public account of the cause of the explosion. Furthermore, there is no transparency in either company’s process of implementing remedies after the tragedy. To keep up the pressure on Apple and Foxconn, SACOM has investigated another Apple supplier, Futaihua Precision Electronics (Zhengzhou) Company, the Foxconn’s subsidiary in Zhengzhou, which produces iPhones. Regrettably, the findings are equally as bad as those found in Chengdu. |
