Apple’s manufacturing partners and subcontractors in China are allegedly using extreme labour conditions for the completion of their products.
According to the New York Times, “Chinese factory workers are forced to work overtime without a single day off in the week.” Working conditions within the factories are unsafe as well: “about 140 workers were injured two years ago at an Apple supplier in eastern China while they used a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Seven months later, two explosions in iPad factories killed four workers and injured 77.” Of course, these workers are underpaid; they receive a measly $8 (collectively) for each unit produced, a small fraction of the iPad’s $499 sale price. Conditions are so extreme that there have even been numerous cases of attempted suicide (19, according to the article), prompting suicide nets to be installed in the factories. Apple’s Chief Executive, Tim Cook, has recently hired the Fair Labor Association, which is now looking into the case.
The main ethical issue here is the exploitation of Chinese factory workers. Will you still purchase Apple products knowing the conditions under which they are made?
References:
http://digitaljournal.com/article/318569
http://mashable.com/2012/03/07/ipad-made-ethically/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282481/iPad-factory-suicides-China.html
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/311137/20120308/apple-ipad-foxconn-slave-labor-contract-sumofus.htm
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/apple-iphone-s-chinese-manufacturer-faces-labour-complaints-1.953035