14 DAY TRIAL // "We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on,” a former Apple executive told the press on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Why? Because the system works for us,” this person said, according to a disturbing report by The New York Times titled “In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad”.
The former Apple staffer added that “Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice."
Editor's note (This statement seems awfully reminiscent of Confessions of an Economic Hitman from Zeitgeist II Addendum).
The news comes high on the heels of Apple’s annual supplier responsibility report, which claims that the company has a zero-tolerance policy for underage labor, as well as for other practices deemed bad for workers in China who assemble iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
Apple said it conducted 229 audits last year - 80 percent more than 2010. The company found some facilities guilty of mistreating its workers and said it had ended its relationship with these partners.
CEO Tim Cook personally added that said audits had yielded “dramatic improvements in hiring practices.”
At the same time, Apple also announced becoming the first tech company to join the Fair Labor Association, agreeing to submit to independent checks of its overseas suppliers.
Another former Apple executive with an alleged knowledge of the company's supplier responsibility group told the NY Times that Cupertino had been ignoring these issues up until now.
“If you see the same pattern of problems, year after year, that means the company’s ignoring the issue rather than solving it,” this person reportedly said. “Noncompliance is tolerated, as long as the suppliers promise to try harder next time. If we meant business, core violations would disappear.”
The report also quotes a former manager from Foxconn, Li Mingqi, who directly accused Apple of looking the other way when out came to worker conditions.
“Once the deal is set and Foxconn becomes an authorized Apple supplier, Apple will no longer give any attention to worker conditions or anything that is irrelevant to its products,” he said.
It is worth noting that Li isn't too fond of his former employer, Foxconn.
He is currently suing the company over his termination last year. However, perhaps it's not a coincidence that this person managed the very iPad factory that blew up from aluminum dust in May, last year.
Foxconn promptly responded to Li’s claims stating that “both Foxconn and Apple take the welfare of our employees very seriously.”