The Verge - Foxconn workers put Chinese labor conditions under the spotlight

Some Apple factories still 'sweatshops,' says Chinese watchdog group

2013-02-27T18:54:03Z

Last month Apple cut ties with one of its Chinese suppliers when an internal audit revealed the supplier was utilizing underage labor — but according to a Chinese consumer watchdog group, some other suppliers still have work to do. As reported by CNET, Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) released a report yesterday that accuses Foxlink, Pegatron, and Wintek of exploitative working conditions following inspections last year.

Calling the suppliers "sweatshops," the report cites inhumane labor practices — including preventing bathroom breaks and proper rest. 14-hour workdays and unpaid overtime are not uncommon, the report states, with some workers only able to take off between one and two days over a three-month...

Foxconn's Apple factories start to show signs of improved working conditions

2012-12-27T09:58:00Z

Close to a year after publishing an explosive report alleging dangerous and unfair labor conditions at Foxconn plants in China, the New York Times has followed up — and sees some evidence that things are getting better. According to the new report, a meeting between a "high-ranking" Apple official and Foxconn's "top executives" has resulted in the Taiwanese manufacturer pledging to increase wages and reduce working hours in reforms set to go into effect next year.

Other changes include improvements to the safety and comfort of Foxconn's factories, including better chairs for workers and automatic shut-off functions for machinery. Foxconn makes products for virtually all major electronics companies, but after drawing criticism in the...

2,000-person riot shuts down Foxconn facility in China, leaves 40 injured

2012-09-24T08:42:21Z

A fight at a Foxconn dormitory this morning escalated into a full-scale brawl between 2,000 people that left 40 injured and the adjoining Taiyuan facility closed. The riot was first reported by Engadget, and it's still unclear what sparked the disturbance; Foxconn so far has put it down to a "personal dispute" that appears not to have been work-related. However, a factory employee told the New York Times that the violence started when security guards and workers started brawling.

The Taiyuan plant in northern China employs over 79,000 people and makes components for various electronics and car companies, though one worker told Reuters that the iPhone 5 is assembled there. An earlier report by M.I.C Gadget also backs up the iPhone...

Chinese students 'forced' to work on iPhone 5 sent back to school

2012-09-06T19:50:02Z

A bizarre and troubling story has come from China today. Both The Shanghai Daily and the CNR News radio station have reported that up to several thousand Chinese students were pulled out of school and into Foxconn to "work on the iPhone 5." There appear to be two separate sources, one of which originated on the social network Sina Weibo. That source claimed that around 200 students from Huaiyin Institute of Technology were driven from their school to the Foxconn factory in Jiangsu in a sort of forced 'internship' program. The source, who claimed to be a student at the school, said the work began last Thursday. The student also said they are being paid a rate of 1,550 yuan (about $244) a month for six 12-hour days of work per week. The...

Apple device manufacturer Foxconn on track with work condition improvements, Fair Labor Association reports

2012-08-21T23:16:53Z

Following its initial investigation of Apple device manufacturer Foxconn back in March, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) has released a follow-up report detailing the company's progress in improving work conditions. Of the 360 actions required to be completed by July 1st, 2013, FLA representatives claim that Foxconn has completed 284, with most occurring on or ahead of schedule. The tasks ranged from reducing work hours to 60 per week, eliminating payroll discrepancies, and improving facility conditions. Foxconn has also made strides to bolster employee representation through union elections, and is allegedly on track to meet Chinese labor guidelines, which limits work to 40 hours per week with up to 9 hours of overtime. The FLA says...

Foxconn says Apple will help bear cost of better working conditions

2012-05-10T16:01:30Z

When Foxconn's first-quarter earnings results came out, analysts suggested that the cost of upgrading factories and offering wage increases had driven down the massive manufacturers' profits. But the company may also be getting some help from Apple. Foxconn executive Terry Gou recently told reporters in Shanghai that improving factory conditions "is not a cost. It is a competitive strength... I believe Apple sees this as a competitive strength along with us, and so we will split the initial costs."

Gou didn't disclose what kind of costs Foxconn and Apple were looking at, or how they'll be splitting them. However, if these increases are indeed affecting Foxconn's bottom line, Gou doesn't seem worried: he said that the company expected to...

How an iPad is made: Daisey critic Rob Schmitz gets exclusive look inside Shenzhen factory (video)

2012-04-12T01:16:04Z

Marketplace correspondent Rob Schmitz, who gained attention for challenging Mike Daisey's accounts of working conditions in China, has been granted exclusive access by Apple and Foxconn to record the companies' iPad production line. The video (below) is a follow-up to last week's report of life inside Foxconn's Longhua facility in Shenzhen, which while critical of the company, is far less damning than Daisey's fictional account.

The video captures a first look at nearly-completed iPads undergoing screen and gyroscope testing, alongside the familiar images of hundreds of applicants waiting in line for a shot at working inside the factory. Schmitz ends the piece noting that Foxconn is locating its newest factories — like its new facility...

Foxconn workers unhappy with shorter working weeks

2012-03-30T18:28:22Z

Foxconn might have been forced to make some changes as its labor conditions were put under the spotlight by the media, but one group seems less than happy with the limitations put upon working hours: the workers themselves. In interviews with Reuters, employees have expressed concern that the new 36-hour per month overtime limit will negatively affect their pay packet. One worker, 25-year-old Chen Yamei, said that "we are here to work and not to play, so our income is very important," and that a figure closer to 60 hours would be more reasonable.

"We are here to work and not to play, so our income is very important."

While the rights of workers in China might be a hot topic right now, the employees' comments put a slightly different...