Chinese Factory Workers Write to Steve Jobs

[fyasko]

workers should have rights, but American unions are out of control with power... it's not like the workers can file a law suit against anyone, they are in china.

 

[house70]

Jobs: "You're not handling it right!"....

 

[TeKEffect]

Write to your government or over throw it. Its not our job to protect the chinese. Its yours. I don't like apple but its easy to side with them on these issues

 

[ohseus]

Ah yes because Apple is the only company with touch screens made in another country. Idiocy.

 

[qu3becker]

At first, I read the title as: Chinese Factory Workers Write to Slave Jobs.

Ahahah

 

[Guest]

you guys continuously talking about what jobs can do, or if he cares...dont get it. the very fact you're commenting on this page means the letter did what it was intended....to get global attention, which it has succeeded. somebody out there, some interest group, will look into this and either a. try to intervene hopefully or 2. as suggested, try to get apple to put pressure on foxconn.

 

[joelmartinez]

I live in the US

 

[K2N hater]

It's time for the America to stop that terror bs and worry with the real war out there. It's proven China will dominate the world with their cheap products, made in most cases by slaves. The Government must go to the media and tell the people what a cheap chinese product is all about.

In several countries cigarette packs come with photos and statistics of cancer and other diseases caused or related to smoke. It is NOT hard to force companies such as HP, Dell, Intel, Apple (the list goes ad aeternum) to have printed on their product boxes/adverts who makes the products and in what conditions.

 

[The_Prophecy]

I highly doubt Apple cares all that much... not sure what they hope to accomplish here.

 

[JD13]

These jobs were outsourced because all of the factories had to face the EPA & OSHA, none of which can be found in China. We should export all the Tree Huggers to China to help them improve their work environment....

 

[JD13]

TARIFFS are the only answer! Obama has yet to lift a finger to really help any working American... Yes costs will go up, but if it costs the same or more to go overseas than the jobs should return....

 

[musical marv]

[They should definitely stand up for their rights. Their health is at stake here.Apple makes profits while the workers continue to suffer.There is capitalism for you!

 

[JD13]

Last year I was lucky enough to get prevailing wage for one job that we were doing & it was almost double the normal rate. I wonder what the prevailing wage is for career politicians these days?


[citation][nom]The Greater Good[/nom]I agreed with a lot of what you said... but this is absolutely false. Right now I work for a friend whom owns his own plumbing business. He does very well. Bought a home, bought his wife a brand new TL with the SH package, is thinking about buying an investment home- you get the idea. If you're a union plumber you make *prevailing wage*, which is upwards of 40 to 65 dollars an hour, depending on the location of the job.To say plumbers are low-paid is just not true. I'd sure love 40 dollars an hour working a 40 hour week.[/citation]

 

[STravis]

Did these workers also write to all the other companies that mistreat them? It's easy to pick on Apple but let's be honest - Chinese workers are abused by all the companies and we, with our desire for cheaper electronics, are enabling that abuse.

 

[tonydu]

[citation][nom]STravis[/nom]Did these workers also write to all the other companies that mistreat them? ... we, with our desire for cheaper electronics, are enabling that abuse.[/citation]

So perhaps we should ignore criminals because there are lots of other criminals? No. We should go after criminals when we can and try to stop them in the future.

While we cannot choose US electronics when there are none to choose, we do bear responsibility for not passing laws to prevent this abuse. The very ability to market products in the United States should be based on compliance with society's norms.

 

[cpatel1987]

[citation][nom]aaron88_7[/nom]Before calling people morons you probably should learn some basic English skills. You're missing a question mark if you still don't understand.But Apple absolutely knows who is producing the parts for its products and how they treat their employees. No other electronic company pays as close attention to detail as Apple does so to assume they aren't aware of the human rights abuses at the plants that produce the products they buy then you're kidding yourself.Many companies have focused on ensuring employees are treated well and have a safe place to work in China. Not because they are moral companies but because unlike Apple they are run by people smart enough to want to not be the company in the newspapers that has factory workers killing themselves due to dire working conditions.Apple shares as much blame as the people running the factories, to shift blame away from Apple is disingenuous and just flat out ignorant. This is a good reason why I avoid Chinese made products as much as possible. I'll gladly pay more to support products made in democratic countries. That is why I chose to buy a Samsung monitor instead of an Asus monitor. Definitely worth the $50 extra to support democracy.[/citation]

@Aaron: I hate Apple just as much as the next guy, but yes, Apple is partially responsible because they are the ones that buy screens from Wintek. But why JUST Apple? How about all the other clients that Wintek has? Apple can put plenty of pressure on Wintek by threatening to buy touch screens with somebody else, but how exactly would Apple have prevented this issue? Wintek could have just as easily hid this issue from Apple, sure Apple may try their best to prevent such practices from happening, but labor conditions is a two way street. So ya, I think Wintek is definitely to blame, not Apple. The best thing Apple can do is find another company to make these screens. But the other issue is, who exactly would that company be?

 

[cpatel1987]

Oh and @Aaron to your democracy comment, what makes you think South Korea has more freedoms than China just because its declares itself a Democracy? What makes you believe South Korea doesn't have these same working condition issues? If that's how you shop, well you best research what true freedom is.

 

[free_radical]

The first thought that came to my mind was "what the hell is hexyl hydride"? A very uncommon name for a very common chemical... Hexane is not nearly as toxic as they make it sound. I use copious amounts of it nearly every day in the lab, as do thousands of other chemists. As long as you don't inhale oodles of it, there is little to worry about.

 

[starryman]

Steve sells apples from the rain of tears and blood. Since they are Chinese, it doesn't really matter. I'm so glad Apple is so white and clean.

 

[FrozenGpu]

I got a feeling Jobs doesn't care, mush you huskies, MOAR SCREENS!

 

[jcb82]

[citation][nom]PudgyChicken[/nom]Yet another article by the same author with blatant grammar issues.The word "has" should be plural, as the antecedent (workers) is plural. Proofreading makes you look smart... Maybe try it out some time?[/citation]

Someone's been reading up for his or her GMAT!

 

[punnar]

Always blaming the big companies. I think it's a two way street if you ask me. If you are willing to work for a dollar a day, that's your choice. Unless Apple's goons are holding these workers at gunpoint. People, you can't compare standards from different countries and make comments that makes you feel good inside. Don't blame big companies like Apple or Intel or AMD just because they like to make profits. Profit is one of the reasons why we have these amazing smart phones available to everyone. These companies don't make the rules in China.

 

[soundping]

[citation][nom]ghostsoldier[/nom]Someone's probably already posted something like this, but they are free to quit if they don't like the job.[/citation]
Go ahead and quit your job to have your family live on the streets. Your free to do that any time of day.

 

[bin1127]

Steve Jobs "We are PAYING for their alcohol?? I will reduce their rice rations by half as punishment!"

 

[bin1127]

[citation][nom]cpatel1987[/nom]@Aaron: I hate Apple just as much as the next guy, but yes, Apple is partially responsible because they are the ones that buy screens from Wintek. But why JUST Apple? How about all the other clients that Wintek has? Apple can put plenty of pressure on Wintek by threatening to buy touch screens with somebody else, but how exactly would Apple have prevented this issue? Wintek could have just as easily hid this issue from Apple, sure Apple may try their best to prevent such practices from happening, but labor conditions is a two way street. So ya, I think Wintek is definitely to blame, not Apple. The best thing Apple can do is find another company to make these screens. But the other issue is, who exactly would that company be?[/citation]

Very likely wintek only has apple as their client or compose at least 90% of their business. It's definitely not just apple, but apple should be ashamed of not paying for fair working conditions when they set new record profits every year. And if there is not a safe alternative (most do; it's either a matter of cost or time)then we shouldn't pursue such a technology, especially for trivial matters like watching youtube in class.