Apple's factory exposes multiple violations: long and low pay

The US non-profit watchdog, the Fair Labor Association (FLA), recently released a report saying that two factories operating in China by Apple's foundry partners have a number of problems, including long hours of work, low pay, poor health and inadequate security. Over the past few years these problems have also been seen in other Apple foundries such as Foxconn.

According to the FLA report, the two factories are operated by Quanta, located in Shanghai and Changshu respectively. The two factories were inspected last August by the FLA, a third-party labor watchdog, OpenView Service, part of a wide-ranging ongoing monitoring of the Apple supply chain by the Fla.

The FLA survey found that 80% of workers "don't know if they are union members." Despite health and safety policies, there are problems with indoor air testing at two factories, and the Shanghai plant does not meet the requirements for the storage of flammable and toxic substances, and there are no staff representatives in the Health and Safety Committee.

In response, Apple responded that Apple's experts had conducted 16 reviews of suppliers, including the two factories, most recently last month. After the FLA review, Apple has worked closely with Quanta to effectively improve the existing problems. Apple also conducted four tracking checks on the two factories to ensure that the necessary corrective actions were put in place. By July this year, Quanta's performance had averaged 86% per cent for the 60-hour workweek required by Apple workers.

Apple declares the following:

If we want to maintain business relations with Apple, our suppliers must comply with the strictest standards in the industry, and Apple is the first and only technology company to join the Fair Labor Association. We are committed to providing a safe and fair working environment for all supply chain owners.

Last year we went deep into the supply chain and conducted 451 comprehensive on-site inspections so that we could identify problems and work with suppliers to solve problems. We track and report the weekly working hours of more than 1 million workers, and we have launched the 18-month Apple supplier EHS Academy training program to improve the industry-wide threshold for environmental, health and safety management.

The Quanta factory inspected by Fla last year was included in our 2014 Supplier Liability report, released in February this year, and our own experts have conducted 16 inspections of these factories, most recently last month.

We have worked closely with Quanta since the year after the FLA inspection to effectively improve the issues that the FLA and Apple have identified. Apple also conducted four tracking checks on the two factories to ensure that the necessary corrective actions were put in place.

As of July this year, Quanta's adherence to the 60-hour workweek was 86% per cent. Too much overtime is not in anyone's interest, and we will continue to work closely with Quanta and other suppliers to prevent this from happening.

Traditionally, quanta is a terminal assembler of Apple products, and is responsible for products such as ipads. It has recently been reported that Apple will be responsible for assembling the long-rumored Apple smart watch. Of these two factories, the Shanghai plant is larger, with a total of 37,060 factories and a total of 4,711 workers in the Changshu plant. As part of the survey, in nine days, the FLA interviewed 389 workers at the Shanghai plant, interviewed 132 workers at the Changshu plant, and most of the interviews were conducted at the site.

Although Apple publishes its supplier liability report every year, there is still widespread media criticism of its overseas employment practices. As a result, Apple joined the FLA in January 2012, a third-party organization that examines suppliers and production plants, looks for potential health and safety problems, and interviews workers. According to an agreement between the FLA and Apple, the association could check Apple's supply chain and ask Apple to make a change. Source: Rong County Recruitment