14 DAY TRIAL // A petition launched by SumOfUs is pressing Apple to address Chinese worker rights, having collected almost 40,000 signatures thus far. The appeal is to make the next iPhone “ethically” and it comes with a statement from the group’s executive director who blasts Tim Cook himself for not taking proper action.
In less than 24 hours since its inception, the petition - “Apple: Make the iPhone 5 ethically” - has collected roughly 35,000 signatures. The target is for 50,000 signatures, and it’s almost there - 86% completed (at the time of this writing).
The group wants Apple to take action and start improving working conditions in Chinese factories, such as those owned by Foxconn, which assembles most of its iPhones, iPods, and iPads.
Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, executive director at SumOfUs, believes Apple’s famous attention to detail should also be centered around working conditions in Chinese factories.
“I use an iPhone myself. I love it, but I don’t love having to support sweatshops, and neither do millions of other Apple consumers,” says Stinebrickner-Kauffman.
“The hip, educated market that Apple aspires to corner is largely composed of responsible consumers who don’t want to be complicit in sweatshop labor,” he adds. “Apple’s attention to detail is famous, and the only way they could fail to be aware of dozens of worker deaths, of child labor, of exposure to neurotoxins is through willful ignorance.”
SumOfUs posts a popular image used by media outlets today to reflect the worker conditions at Chinese "sweatshops"
In his statement, Stinebrickner-Kauffman directly targets Tim Cook, who formally responded to the outrage with a promise that Apple was doing everything in its power to address these concerns.
“If Tim Cook is really offended by these allegations, why isn’t he doing anything to fix the problems? Every time a Foxconn worker is killed or disabled making an Apple product, Mr. Cook bears personal moral responsibility. Apple’s enforcement of razor-thin profit margins at suppliers invites – and may even force – them to slash workers’ rights. But Apple is going to have much bigger longer-term problems than paying a few extra dollars for its products if it loses its luster with ethical consumers,” said the director.
And while Apple has disclosed the efforts it makes to deal with these problems on numerous occasions, computer vendors like Hewlett Packard, Dell, and many others, are hardly getting this much attention.
Apple may be Foxconn’s biggest partner, but by no means is this Apple’s issue to deal with alone.
The Mac maker has launched a Supplier Responsibility site that shows the improvements made over the years. The Cupertino giant is also the first to join the Fair Labor Association. The same thing cannot be said about other computer / electronics vendors.
Apple stresses its efforts that ensure not only worker safety at Chinese factories, but also environmental safety
But it’s certainly understandable why the Cupertino giant is the primary target.
Apple’s products are, by far, the most popular ones assembled in China, and the company has just posted its most profitable quarter yet, pocketing tens of billions of dollars, again.