With the outsourcing of jobs to nations such as China becoming a trend amongst large companies, Apple has followed suit due to the maximization of profits that results from such outsourcing. However, no sooner had Apple initiated an agreement with the factory dubbed Foxconn that eerie stories began to echo from the overcrowded production floors of the company.
With one of the highest recorded suicide rates of any factory in all of China, many began to enquire as to what took place between the factory’s walls. The findings were heart wrenching to say the least. The workers sign pre-drafted contracts that waiver their rights to the legal maximum working hours and the contracts not only tie workers to the job so they can’t quit, but have also legally tied the lips of workers shut concerning any work related events. So why is such a contract in place? Well not only do the workers work 60 hours a week, but they also spend a majority of that time trapped in waste packed rooms, sleeping on dirty bed sheets, and as one worker put it “spending our lunch breaks just trying to survive”.
As a firm believer in human rights and bearing in mind how many jobs would be created if apple were to keep production in the USA, the question must be asked; At what point does the well being of workers and a community take precedence over profits.
Links:
1) http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/daily-report-chinese-plant-faces-new-labor-issue-on-iphones/
2) http://mashable.com/2012/02/22/foxconn/