Apple’s All About the Money

Today, as I walked across the UBC Campus,  lots of conversations were made based on the new iphone 5 release.

9/12/12 The grand opening date of the new iPhone 5.

Some were saying how the size has changed while others were talking about the new spectacular features it had. Everyone seemed to be caught up on the long awaited arrival of this new iphone that  the old news on the abusive labour at foxconn just doesn’t seem to be important anymore.

Just a few years back, prior to Steve Job’s death, labourer’s rights were found to be infringed upon by Foxconn; a key supplier to Apple’s products. Employees were found to be working in harsh conditions and some even worked excessively overtime that their legs began to swell. While all this happened, Apple simply ignored it and continued to earn its massive revenues from the general public.

Overworked Labours getting minimum wage.

Now some may say that Apple did care about this problem and that they sent over social workers and investigators to find out more about what was truly going on at Foxconn. This may all be true because of the fact that now they were in the public’s eye. In order for the company to not look unethical, they claim they have sent forth help to these unfortunate workers. But let me tell you the truth, they simply don’t care! In 2007, prior to the media outbreak,  Apple had already been notified about the  violation of their supplies on labour rights. They simply didn’t bother with the report as long as there was a flow of income coming in to their bank accounts.

Is this what you support?

Here was how a previous Foxconn Technology manager described Apple’s actions.

“Apple never cared about anything other than increasing product quality and decreasing production cost. [Simply put,] worker’s welfare had nothing to do with their interests.”

The word horrendous wasn’t even able to describe the amount of shock one would have when finishing the quote above. How can such a massive corporate company be doing such pitiless things? It just disgusts me to know that someone in the world would actually hurt others just for the benefit of oneself.

So remember, next time you shop at Apple, think to yourself this question. Who exactly am I supporting for when purchasing this product?

Bibliography:

Research., Charles Duhigg And David Barboza; Gu Huini Contributed. “THE IECONOMY; In China, the Human Costs That Are Built Into an IPad.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?pagewanted=all>.

“Abuse at Apple’s China suppliers: Watchdog” Hindustantimes. AFP, 28 June 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. <http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/Chunk-HT-UI-Technology-OtherStories/Abuse-at-Apple-s-China-suppliers-Watchdog/SP-Article1-880094.aspx>.

Research.,Malcolm Moore. “Apple admits using child labour.” Telegraph. Telegraph.co.uk., 27 Feb. 2010. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7330986/Apple-admits-using-child-labour.html>.