Apple Admits to Using Factories That Employ Kids

[JMcEntegart]

Apple has said that it has found 17 labor violations at its factories. The one garnering most attention is the use of underage employees.

Apple Admits to Using Factories That Employ Kids : Read more

 

[SlyMaelstrom]

This is lame... so they were underage when they were hired but aren't underage, now, which likely means they were hired maybe six months to a year before they reached legal age. It's not like we're talking about little eight year old soldering resistors onto motherboards 15 hours a day... we're talking about a manager hiring a teenage off the books so he can pay for clothes or school supplies.

Also, sixty hours a week isn't an overwhelming amount of time... granted that "forcing" people to work that amount of time is pretty uncouth in the USA and most modern civilization, but it's pretty common practice in your poorer countries to work long hours in order to pay the bills.

I'm not trying to say that these aren't bad things, but clearly Apple is taking an initiative on fixing them which is pretty noble when you consider that companies like Nike have employers in India that literally OWN the children that work for them and are treated like slaves while the corporate side just denies it all.

 

[steddy]

Isn't the title of the article a bit harsh? It was the suppliers that were hiring underage workers, not Apple itself. Also, congrats to Apple for cracking down on this sort of thing.

 

[Pei-chen]

So kids can't have jobs now? I remember working at a computer shop when I was 15 so I can buy parts for my computer and other goodies.

 

[christopherknapp]

Totally lame article. The above posters have it spot on.

 

[snurp85]

slymaelstrom - 60 hours a week is alot. 10 hour days 6 days a week for less than minimum wage and no overtime. Not to mention, 60 hour weeks for teenagers?!??! The fact that apple charges so much for their computers and yet their pays their employees so little is outlandish.

steddy - Apple clearly is not doing anything about this problem despite knowing about it. These reports are published every year and have consistently shown the have recurring problems. It would seem that Apple is okay with workshops.

 

[donovands]

Apple is a drop in the bucket. There's a reason nothing is manufactured in the West anymore. It's far better for a company's bottom line to get cheap labor in 3rd world countries. How can a Western country compete with a labor force that works twice as long for a tiny fraction of the cost? Imagine what Apple products would cost if manufactured in the US?

 

[thackstonns]

[citation][nom]slymaelstrom[/nom]I'm not trying to say that these aren't bad things, but clearly Apple is taking an initiative on fixing them which is pretty noble when you consider that companies like Nike have employers in India that literally OWN the children that work for them and are treated like slaves while the corporate side just denies it all.[/citation]

Really I didnt see anything noble in there, as a matter of fact I saw the exact opposite. You point me to the place in the story where Apple pulls the factories contract because of the violations, and I will agree. Until then apple hasnt done anything besides run a report.

you know Toms its funny the dumb ads and feedback expand everytime I roll over them by accident, but half the time the damn submit button doesnt work. Maybe you should fix that.

 

[deadlockedworld]

[citation][nom]Artificialintel[/nom]You would think this would generate good press for Apple, considering that they're the only ones attempting to enforce any kind of labor rules amongst their suppliers. I guess the lesson learned for corporate America is: don't investigate if your suppliers are compliant, and don't tell anyone if you find your suppliers aren't compliant. Good job, all of you outraged at Apple over them releasing the report of their own audit![/citation]

This is exactly right. Apple cared enough to find out and now the press is trying to screw them for it. I guarantee all the parts suppliers use child labor...

 

[deadlockedworld]

[citation][nom]thackstonns[/nom]Really I didnt see anything noble in there, as a matter of fact I saw the exact opposite. You point me to the place in the story where Apple pulls the factories contract because of the violations, and I will agree. Until then apple hasnt done anything besides run a report. [/citation]

If you read the full report (or read it from a news source that writes in longer than 3-paragraph stories) you would see that they ARE challenging/renegotiating contracts with supplier companies because of the violations.

 

[Kelavarus]

I pretty much laugh at anyone complaining about child labor after having traveled the world for 5 years. 90% of the time, they NEED those jobs. They're not (technically) being forced into it, they don't have a choice because they need the money for their family. Then the Western world gets involved and takes their job away from them and only puts them into more poverty while saying "Hey, look, now we've saved you!"

 

[Silmarunya]

[citation][nom]Kelavarus[/nom]I pretty much laugh at anyone complaining about child labor after having traveled the world for 5 years. 90% of the time, they NEED those jobs. They're not (technically) being forced into it, they don't have a choice because they need the money for their family. Then the Western world gets involved and takes their job away from them and only puts them into more poverty while saying "Hey, look, now we've saved you!"[/citation]

And the fact they need this job is even more outrageous. If this people could finish secondary school, they'd be able to read, write, understand their basic rights and have a rudimentary grasp of maths and economics. In other words, they'd have skills to build a better future not a single aid initiative could dream of achieving.

 

[chomlee]

[citation][nom]TheJoh[/nom]Damn you people make me sick. All of these violations and you are defending Apple? Why do you think they hire in those countries listed? Cause they can get away with almost anything to save a buck. [/citation]

First off, I admit that I hate Apple. I feel like they are nothing but profit mongers. Saying that, I will also admit that to even have policies like this where they watch thier suppliers and subcontracts is very noble. All electronics companies use subcontractors and suppliers and you would be surprized the human violations involved. For example, I love Asus computers but I wouldn't be surprized that their suppliers would have even more violations (especially since they arent a US company).

It's an unfortunate fact today. If people want something cheap, it will be made with cheap labor. If you look at the things the average family has been able to afford over the past 30-40 years, they have increased dramatically mainly because of forein cheap labor (Wal-Mart is a perfect example).

Anyhow, as much as I dislike Apple, I give them kudos for having a policy to minimize human rights violations.

 

[blasterth]

Now I know why Apple products are so cheap.
No wait ...

 

[dman3k]

Boycott Apple

 

[brendano257]

Congratz to Apple for cracking down and actually releasing this. It's not like they had to release this, they could have swept it under the rug, but they obviously care enough to try to fix it. As for people who think Apple is the devil, what percentage of PC parts are made with child labor? Also this is not Apple's fault, it is their suppliers that hired the children or underpayed/overworked employees, not Apple.

 

[chomlee]

[citation][nom]Silmarunya[/nom]And the fact they need this job is even more outrageous. If this people could finish secondary school, they'd be able to read, write, understand their basic rights and have a rudimentary grasp of maths and economics. In other words, they'd have skills to build a better future not a single aid initiative could dream of achieving.[/citation]

What you may not realize is that many forein countries have their high school education at the same level of many colleges in the US. Believe it or not, the US is known for its education mainly because of the graduate programs.

Our company put an office in Costa Rica, and there are tons of Engineers with college degrees working fixing cars or working as a cashier because they cant find an engineering job.

Dont get me wrong, I am all for education, nothing bad can happen if you have an educated society, but there are some countries that already have a decent education system and they are still borderline 3rd world countries because of the corruption/poverty levels.

 

[omnimodis78]

[citation][nom]brendano257[/nom]Congratz to Apple for cracking down and actually releasing this. It's not like they had to release this, they could have swept it under the rug, but they obviously care enough to try to fix it. As for people who think Apple is the devil, what percentage of PC parts are made with child labor? Also this is not Apple's fault, it is their suppliers that hired the children or underpayed/overworked employees, not Apple.[/citation]
They did this for the exact reason you just proved! It's a PR strategy, perhaps one of the oldest in the book of corporate public relations. I'm not saying it's good or bad, I am just saying, nothing is every done out of the goodness of the heart, Apple, after-all, is about the same thing as every single corporation - money! How they make money? If you buy their products, and such "news" shows that they are 'ethical' and 'caring' and you might be inclined to buy their product. It works. Unfortunately, all their stuff is made in Asian countries, do you really believe (think about this) that there's only 11 minors sucked into the vacuum of cheap labor in their factories/suppliers? Come on...

 

[Abrahm]

I don't think it's fair to knock Apple for this, as I'm sure it is just as common with all of the other manufacturers.

 

[Dirty Durden]

When will Apple & others like Apple bring back these jobs to America. There is 70% high school drop out rate in SOME schools in America. What will the drop out do for work, move to China. We are headed for Greece & France where our young are burning car & braking windows stores. We are killing the middle class in America. America needs to wake up & starting buying products made in the the U.S.A.

 

[tipoo]

Its just underage kids that are underpaid and unfairly treated. Not that Big a deal.


Steve

Sent from my child-made iPhone.

 

[invlem]

Huh, all of a sudden the excessive thermal goop on the processors makes perfect sense.

The kids probably thought they were gluing the CPU's onto the motherboard. We all learned as kids how much white glue sucks.

 

[Dirty Durden]

WTF Toyota makes their cars in America. So a Jap company can make cars in America but Ford or GM cannot make car here. Why, because Japan has the highest Corp. tax rates in the World, who is next the good ole U.S.A. We have the second highest corp tax rate in the world. Why because of the E.P.A. & the tree huggers. The EPA wants to regulate everything & if they cannot regulate them they will tax them out of the Country.

 

[jwl3]

Funny, Apple sells itself as "progressive. "

 

[SlyMaelstrom]

[citation][nom]snurp85[/nom]slymaelstrom - 60 hours a week is alot. 10 hour days 6 days a week for less than minimum wage and no overtime. Not to mention, 60 hour weeks for teenagers?!??! The fact that apple charges so much for their computers and yet their pays their employees so little is outlandish..[/citation]Really? Perhaps we have different work experiences... In software development, I've logged 100+ hour weeks multiple times and during busy parts of the year it's not uncommon to log 70-80 hours each week. That, by the way, is not overtime for me because I'm on salary and am exempt from overtime pay. In my business, working the standard 40 hours a week probably means you aren't working enough.

Like I said... it's a crazy sounding thing out here to think of teenagers working 60 hour a week... but visit half of the countries in the list at the end of this article and I'm sure you find most of the working teenagers log that much time regularly.