14 DAY TRIAL // After The NY Times ran a troubling story about Apple looking the other way on worker abuse at its partners’ overseas facilities, CEO Tim Cook says he is downright shocked by these claims, and wants to set the record straight.
The CEO promptly responded with a letter to all Apple staffers, saying “As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly.”
In the letter, Cook says Apple cares about every worker in its supply chain worldwide, and that “any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern.”
“Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us,” the letter opening continues. “As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.”
“For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers’ manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren’t as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.”
The CEO then proceeds to dish out those facts, such as:
· Every year, Apple inspects more facilities and makes improvements to working conditions for hundreds of thousands of individuals. “We know of no one in our industry doing as much as we are, in as many places, touching as many people,” Cook says.
· Apple is focused on actually educating workers about their rights, so that they can sound the alarm on unfair practices.
Cook concludes his email, saying: “We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain. On this you have my word. You can follow our progress at apple.com/supplierresponsibility.”