Apple’s labour practices
Sep 15th, 2011 by sammiechan
Apple Inc., the ‘Nike of Consumer Electronics’, has grown to be one of the highly successful companies in world. With annual sales of $65.23 billion, surely they can afford to provide a safe and comfortable work place for their employees right? Quite the contrary. In fact, last year there were media reports of Apple contractor Foxconn employees committing suicide because of long working hours and unfathomable pressure every day. Workers claimed that they were ‘being treated as machines’ and announced that they only earn $300 USD monthly. After nine suicides in one year due to the working conditions at Foxconn, Foxconn ensured no more suicides by making its employees promise not to commit suicide. Furthermore, Apple was found using suppliers that uses child labour and chemicals which poisoned dozens of workers. With companies like Apple and Nike embracing these unethical practices in order to sustain their company’s high profits, other companies will follow their steps. This may not be only Apple’s problem, but it can be seen as a global problem where companies are determined to find the lowest-cost suppliers for financial benefits.
Want to read more? http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/25271/20100528/china-taiwan-foxconn-apple-dell-hewlett-packard-iphone-ipad-assembler-contractor-technology-electron.htm