Apple Admits to Using Factories That Employ Kids

[STravis]

[citation][nom]Dirty Durden[/nom]Trade unions, the south does not have unions & the north does. Unions, taxes & the EPA makes this country very unfriendly to business & will be our down fall. I do not want to pollute streams & knock down the mountains, but we are losing are edge to the Chi-Coms b/c of the regulations.Are you an American? If so imagine this, America went to a flat tax 15% on all consumption, personal & Corp. This would do away with the IRS & the Progressive income tax. The world will flood the U.S.A with money & Companies would be beating down our doors to get in. That is how we can turn this around, not with more regulations, unions & taxes. Then the States demand the Fed. government to balance the budget & payoff all of the debt we owe, meaning we do not owe any other country money. Then the history books will look to us as the GREATEST GENERATION EVER & not 20's or the 40's.[/citation]

I am an American and the current direction that our country is headed - lead by big corporations - doesn't appeal to me.

As for cutting taxes, I do believe that the current administration has cut taxes to the middle class (people making less than $250K) so that part is done. Cutting taxes however has no impact when all the crap I buy ends up being produced by foreign workers, resulting in more US money going to foreign countries.

Unions were formed to protect the laborer from abuse. There's not much use for them now (unless of course you count working 80+ hours a week - not OT or comp time as abuse).

As for your flat tax (15%) I'm all for it, but I'm curious, how would you tax corporations?

 

[jsm6746]

it's good that apple is policing their suppliers... i can ensure you many companies turn a blind eye to this... this was a baited headline though, shame on you tom's...

 

[STravis]

[citation][nom]grieve[/nom]Do you get days owed?I am also on Salarie... I work 40hr weeks. If i work 1hr over 40 i bank it, when i get 8hrs banked i take a day off. I have had 50hr weeks and generally the week after i take an extra day off.If those extra hours you work are just 'given" to the company i would look long and hard @ your working conditions![/citation]

I'm not that much of a nit-picker (after all I'm pretty sure that I don't put in 100% effort on those 40 hours) so I'm willing to eat an hour or two, but double the time - no way.

Way I see it, the OP is hitting the economy 2 times. He's working 70+ hours (1) effectively keeping another engineer unemployed and (2) not getting extra money for it, so he doesn't really have that much more to spend.

I call that slave labor anyway...

 

[idisarmu]

At the prices Apple sets for their computers, they should be paying their employees a FAIR wage. If they guarantee a fair wage, then I might even consider purchasing an Apple product some day. (I don't own any Apple products, and neither does anyone in my family, with the exception of one ipod that broke a long time ago)

 

[G-Systems]

[citation][nom]donovands[/nom]Imagine what Apple products would cost if manufactured in the US?[/citation]

Given the price, I thought they already were being manufactured in the U.S. Now they have NO excuse for their artificially inflated pricing strategies. Everyone remarks Microsoft's greed... Surely, Apple's greed couldn't possibly be overlooked after these transgressions...

BTW: I understand that Apple isn't directly responsible for this labor substandard, but surely the price that they pay to acquire the goods produced at these manufacturing facilities is significantly lower than it would seem.

 

[The_Trutherizer]

Child labor might not be the most ideal of things, but in a poor country I think it's quite understandable if even 14+ year olds want to make a buck or two for the family (or just themselves). I think it would probably be immoral to prevent them from working. They might go hungry if they do not. Child welfare is not as well developed everywhere as it is in the US. More than anything I just feel sad for these kids, because life denies them a long and happy childhood. People should think before they have kids. I mean we say that about puppies, i think we owe ourselves at least as much consideration.

 

[anamaniac]

[citation][nom]babybeluga[/nom]Software development and manual labor are two completely different things...[/citation]
Manual labour is easier.

Much easier for me to work a muscle than to think all day.

 

[Guest]

You people that are enraged make me laugh. Why is that us Americans always judge the rest of the world by our standards. Wake up, our system is about to collapse around our ears. Other countries are trying to lift themselves from the dismal life standards and we are there trying to tell them how to do it. Leave them alone, they will figure it out and then we Americans will no longer be able to afford the life style we have become accustomed too.