Apple: Human Rights Problem in China?
For companies that rely on overseas workers, such as the Apple Company, there are accusations of a big and very important issue: human rights. It is the belief that every human, whether one is working or not, is entitled to the right of equality, freedom from enslavement, and freedom from discrimination. The Apple Company is accused of unsafe dormitories, overcrowding, and injuries in its factory over in China. Apple is an immensely large company and practically everyone on this planet knows the Apple name and their logo. For the Apple Company, to be accused of a human rights problem is problematic. It is an important situation that needs to be fixed because the company is one of the leading electronic manufacturers in the world and it stands as a first-rate and high quality company. Many electronic users, Apple users, and other rival companies are interested in what the future holds for the Apple Company. Users will also want to know how the company will respond and what they will do in this situation.
According to Steven Foley, from The Independent, “in 2010, a spate of 13 suicides or attempted suicides at that factory, known as Foxconn City, first turned a spotlight on the companies Apple uses to build its devices.” Those incidents were one of the first problematic situations that put the Apple Company in the limelight. Foley states that any of the workers believe Apple needs to fix the problem of “long work hours, harsh management, and safety problems” first before bringing in inspectors. Apple is trying to fix their problems overseas by “conducting public relations exercise;” to the workers, it is not good enough. Foley then continues to lists only few of the allegations that Apple faces in China. The allegations that he includes in his article are: in 2009, an employee working for Foxconn fell from a building after losing an iPhone prototype in, a hundred thirty seven workers at the Suzhou facility owned by Apple suppliers were injured after being ordered to use a poisonous chemical to make the cleaned screens of the iPod dry faster in 2010, employees were killed and injured in a dust explosion at a Foxconn factory in Shanghai that produced iPad parts in 2011, in December of 2011, sixty-one workers were injured in a gas explosion at the Riteng Computer Accessory Co. Factory in Shanghai, and finally, employees allege that many of Foxconn’s dormitories, where more that fifty thousand workers live, are overcrowded with reports of twenty workers being housed in a three-room apartment (Foley). With these forward problems comes the need for some fast and serious solutions. Therefore, Apple has invited the Fair Labour Association (FLA) inspectors examine the factories in China, review the allegations, and let the Chinese workers speak freely about their work environment. According to Foley, the FLA will asking employees about their working and living conditions, which includes health and safety, pay, and hours. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, states, “we believe workers everywhere have the right to a safe a fair work environment, which is why we have asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers” (Foley). This statement from Cook did not go well with a China Labour Watch activist, Fan Yuan. Yuan said that what Apple has said was just “a publicity stunt” and what really needs to happen is have a solution to the problems they are facing. To him, “this move is not really about solving problems, but rather about Apple getting publicity and rebuilding its positive image” (Yuan in Foley). This article from The Independent is a website originated in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Independent Digital News and Media Limited, and is peer reviewed.
Stanley Lubman, who writes for The Wall Street Journal, wrote an article about the working conditions and persistence of problems in China’s Factories. He writes about the success of the Apple products and the competition amongst their competitors such as Samsung. Apple and Samsung rely heavily on overseas manufacturers. The article states that the increase in competition “ …will crank up pressures in factories whose workers are already struggling under harsh conditions” (Lubman). He also refers to the recent reports that Apple is accused of and describes the conditions for workers by these factories; then continues to talk about the treatment on an employee groups: dispatch labor. Dispatch labors are workers hired by employment agencies that have “contracts with factories … [but] have no direct contractual relationship with the factory (Lubman). According to Lubman’s article, Chinese law requires dispatched workers only be hired for “temporary, auxiliary, or substitute job positions”. Factories are facing difficulty in recruiting regular workers that is why they are recruiting dispatch workers. The China Labor Watch (CLW) report found that some of the factories generally offered an “illegitimate contract or no contract at all” to dispatch workers and then the dispatch workers will sign a contract with the company, allowing the factory to shirk responsibility for their worker’s benefit and safety (Lubman). This is an issue because although the factories are able avoid responsibility, it is a problem with the worker’s human rights. Whether and overseas worker or not, one is entitled to the basic human rights that enable every person their rights. This leads to the question, why cannot a huge company like Apple have that numerous employees working for the company in the United States?
Like many other companies, Apple relies on overseas workers is because finding that many workers that are willing to work in that type of pace in the United States is almost impossible. Edward Moyer, a writer for CNET News, wrote an article explaining the overseas manufacturing problem in China. Moyer’s article states the demanding order from the then Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. Jobs said that his keys scratched the prototype phone in his pocket. He stated that people will carry their keys in the their pockets and that he “[would] not sell a product that gets scratched” (Moyer). Therefore, he ordered new “unscratchable” glass screens instead and only gave six weeks to complete the task. Moyer refers to a New York Times article about the same issue that states how the company relied on overseas “Chinese factory to revamp the manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on the shelves”. Moyer continues his article presenting the readers with quotes from two people. The first from an executive in the Apple Company stating, “the speed and flexibility is breathtaking. There is no American plant that can match that” (Duhigg and Bradsher). Also agreeing with Duhigg and Bradsher, Jennifer Rigoni, Apple’s worldwide supply demand manager until 2010, speaks about Foxconn City, “they could hire three thousand people overnight. What U.S. plant can find three thousand people overnight and convince them to live in dorms?” (Moyer). Both quotes demonstrate the powerfully fast paced manufacturing in the Chinese factories and also question the ability of workers in the United States. The New York Times article by Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher, expresses the change as more electronic companies focus their manufacturing overseas.
Now if one were too look online at Apple’s Labor and Human Rights Page, one would see in big and bold letters: “If companies want to do business with us, they must act fairly and ethically at all times” (“Apple”). This statement is fairly ironic because as many people can see, they have not lived up to those expectations. Because Apple is such a well known company and it is being accused of these allegations, I believe Apple needs to fix and find solutions to those problems. Apple is relying almost 80% of its producing and manufacturing to overseas factories because they are fast paced and capable of having work done in such a short amount of time. However, I believe Apple is a big name company and they should not even have human right problems. They need to step up and fix the problems with real and timely solutions. I am really interested in this topic because everyone knows the name, face, and logo of the Apple Company. It plays a huge part of our generation and will continue to play an even bigger role in the coming generations. We should never have unfair rights, discrimination, and hazardous work environments because we are a growing society. We rely a lot on technology and need to respect the workers who make them. Therefore, the Apple Company needs to admit they did have a human rights problem and move forward because making this situation a publicity stunt is wrong. Hopefully Apple can fix the problem and start focusing on a better and bigger future.

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