Apple hit by China Foxconn factory report

An independent investigation has found “significant issues” among working practices at Chinese plants making Apple iPhones and iPads.The US Fair Labor Association (FLA) was asked by Apple to investigate working conditions at Foxconn after reports of long hours and poor safety.The FLA says it has now secured agreements to reduce hours, protect pay, and improve staff representation.Apple said it “fully accepted” the report’s recommendations.To read this BBC News report in full, see:
www.bbc.com/news/technology-17557630Also see:Apple’s factories in China are breaking employment laws, audit finds
An audit of Apple’s Chinese factories details “serious and pressing” concerns over excessive working hours, unpaid overtime, health and safety failings, and management interference in trade unions.In the most detailed public investigation yet into conditions at Foxconn factories in China, which assemble millions of iPhones and iPads each year, the independent Fair Labor Association found that more than half of employees had worked 11 days or more without rest.
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/mar/30/apple-factories-china-foxconn-auditElectronic Giant Vowing Reforms in China Plants
Responding to a critical investigation of its factories, the manufacturing giant Foxconn has pledged to sharply curtail working hours and significantly increase wages inside Chinese plants making electronic products for Apple and others. The move could improve working conditions across China.The shift comes after a far-ranging inspection by the Fair Labor Association, a monitoring group, found widespread problems — including at least 43 violations of Chinese laws and regulations, and numerous instances where Foxconn defied industry codes of conduct by having employees work more than 60 hours a week, and sometimes more than 11 days in a row. The group released a report Thursday with its findings.
www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/business/apple-supplier-in-china-pledges-changes-in-working-conditions.htmlFoxconn Apple Factories Violated Chinese Labor Laws, According To Fair Labor Association
The Chinese workers who often spend more than 60 hours per week assembling iPhones and iPads will have their overtime curbed and their hourly wages raised after a labor auditor hired by Apple Inc. inspected their factories.The Washington-based Fair Labor Association says Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the Taiwanese company that runs the factories, is committing to reducing weekly work time to the legal Chinese maximum of 49 hours.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/foxconn-apple-factories-labor-violations_n_1389392.htmlApple, Foxconn set new standard for China work conditions
Apple Inc and its main contract manufacturing Foxconn agreed to tackle violations of conditions among the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads in a landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business in China.Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, whose subsidiary Hon Hai Precision Industry assembles Apple devices in factories in China, will hire tens of thousands of new workers, eliminate illegal overtime, improve safety protocols and upgrade workers’ housing and other amenities.
in.reuters.com/article/2012/03/30/apple-foxconn-idINDEE82S0IA20120330Apple’s Foxconn workers want to work more, dislike food
The Chinese workers who assemble Apple Inc’s iPads and iPhones are young, mostly male and a large number of them do not live in their employer Foxconn Technology Group’s much-maligned dormitories.Maybe it’s the food.The survey of more than 35,000 Foxconn workers revealed that 71 percent of them don’t think the factory canteens serve good food, according to the results of an extensive survey of three of Foxconn’s China factories undertaken by Washington, D.C.-based non-profit group Fair Labor Association.
in.reuters.com/article/2012/03/29/apple-foxconn-workers-idINDEE82S0JX20120329