I wouldn't quite call that war, more a disgruntled sigh.
That wouldn't generate as many clicks...
Apple goes to war with the BBC
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Re: Apple goes to war with the BBC
#32I recommend everyone to subscribe to China Labour Watch [http://chinalaborwatch.org].
Reports of workplace abuse are so recurring that you end up dying a little inside from reading about one huge company after the other pulling this shit - but at least it'll stop you from reverting to an automatic defensive response to bad news about companies like Apple.
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fwiw, I still agree that it's generally counterproductive to do reporting focused on Apple, because although they're the most obvious company to scrutinize, it makes it seems as if the issue is specific to Apple and not the systemic rule across corporations.
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PS: Consider donating to CLW while you're at it; it's Christmas, after all.
Re: Apple goes to war with the BBC
#33Sleeping publicly in asian cultures is perfectly normal.
I remember seeing these asian students just passed out on university benches once I started studies abroad.
The journalist says 'it seems that they have no choice'. So he just displayed his cultural unconsciousness and publicly alleged Apple of wrongdoing.
One could easily speculate that people working in western societies are pumped up with caffeine, sugar or other drugs, freely available by their profit-hungry bosses.
Re: Apple goes to war with the BBC
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Foxconn has an anti-suicide policy. There's a reason.
Foxconn's suicide rate turns out to be lower than the Chinese general population's suicide rate. They've got the population of a good sized city. Per Wikipedia: > Although the number of workplace suicides at the company was large in absolute terms, the rate is still low when compared to the rest of China. (However, the country has a high suicide rate with over 20 deaths per 100,000 persons.) In 2010, the worst year f…
I think you need to review your position in support of sweatshops and exploitation of people in developing regions.
Also, we are talking about statistics posted in China. Are you fucking kidding me?
Re: Apple goes to war with the BBC
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Foxconn has an anti-suicide policy. There's a reason.
Foxconn's suicide rate turns out to be lower than the Chinese general population's suicide rate. They've got the population of a good sized city. Per Wikipedia: > Although the number of workplace suicides at the company was large in absolute terms, the rate is still low when compared to the rest of China. (However, the country has a high suicide rate with over 20 deaths per 100,000 persons.) In 2010, the worst year f…
> Foxconn's suicide rate turns out to be lower than the Chinese general population's suicide rate.
Foxconn employees' workplace suicide rate. In general I'd expect the workplace suicide rate to be a small fraction of the overall suicide rate. Maybe Foxonn employees never leave their workplace and the figures are the same, but that's not great either.
Re: Apple goes to war with the BBC
#36I would love to see if they could find a multinational company WITHOUT issues like this in their supply chain - I imagine none exist. (I still support "exposé" programs like this since people need to be reminded what the actual cost of their toys are - but they should cast a broader net)
Apple is the biggest to it must be taken down first. I prefer focused attack on apple than watered down on many fronts.
Which large companies take supply chain auditing as seriously as Apple?
Re: Apple goes to war with the BBC
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
So should we not also look down on those companies? Why do we give companies a pass to exploit workers because other companies do as well?
I don't know if a 60 hour work week counts as exploitation. If you options are 400$/month and 40 hour weeks or 600$ a month and 60 hour weeks a lot of people are going to chose the second option. IMO, when it comes to exploitation pay, working conditions, and irregular work schedules can be far more exploitive than simple hours worked. Also, dorm style housing next to a factory dramatically cut down on commute times…
> I don't know if a 60 hour work week counts as exploitation. If you options are 400$/month and 40 hour weeks or 600$ a month and 60 hour weeks a lot of people are going to chose the second option.
And that is why it is exploitation: They are in a position where they don't realistically have a choice, and hence don't realistically have power to negotiate higher salaries for more reasonable hours.
This is the basis for e.g. EU working time regulations that makes 60 hour work weeks illegal within the EU with few exceptions.
Re: Apple goes to war with the BBC
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know why "everyone is doing it" somehow mitigates the problem.
Because they blame one company. From what I've read Apple has done more than anyone else to improve the situation and yet they're the ones that constantly receive blame. Do a report on the supply chain as a whole and how the entire tech industry has workers that are being exploited. They select one company (a popular one) because it'll generate more clicks regardless of the fact that it makes the reporting slightly b…
They don't blame one company. They did an expose of one company. And one of the companies with arguably the most popular product.
Re: Apple goes to war with the BBC
#39Genuine question: Which large companies do supply chain auditing to the same or greater extent than Apple do? Do they make the audit publicly available as Apple do? I'd like to compare.