Apple update 6

Two days ago FLA (Fair labour association) published  a new report about working conditions at  Foxconn  factories (one of the main Apple suppliers). From June 25 to July 6 2012 Openview and
SCSA (two local, independent labor monitoring organizations accredited by FLA and overseen by FLA staff)   returned to each of the three Foxconn facilities to verify the implementation status of
remedial action items. According to FLA  "Foxconn and Apple are carrying out the robust
remediation plan developed following FLA’s investigation, published on March 28, 2012. Over
the past three months, steady progress has been made at the three facilities employing an
estimated 178,000 workers, and all remediation items due within the timeframe have been
completed, with others ahead of schedule. Some of the most challenging action items
– such as compliance with Chinese labor law regarding hours of work – are yet to come, and
FLA will continue to engage with Apple and Foxconn to monitor and verify progress".
Quite different  is the opinion of china labour watch. In the response to FLA’s progress report on Apple (August 21, 2012) they say that "FLA just released a status report of the improvement at three factories of Foxconn. This report is detailed and comprehensive, with full access and resources in the investigation. However, China Labor Watch holds three concerns in response to the report:
1.      In that report, FLA successfully shifted the responsibility for Apple by blaming Foxconn for the previous unsatisfying working conditions in those factories.  In fact, Apple has the responsibility and resource to improve the labor conditions of workers.
2.      The harsh working conditions are by no means isolated to just Foxconn but exist throughout Apple’s supply chain. However, that report only focused on Foxconn factories. It is Apple’s entire supply chain system that should be responsible for the squeezing of workers.
3.      Although the working hours at Foxconn have been reduced to less than 60 hours per week, the intensity of the hourly work has been increased. According to our follow-up investigation, the workers have to complete the workload of 66 hours before within 60 hours now per week. As a result, the workers get lower wages but have to work much harder and they are not satisfied with the current situation.
Our report on ten of Apple’s supplier factories could be found here: http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/pro/proshow-176.html. It is our hope that Apple can take practical action and raise the standards of conditions at its supplier factories."

For the entire story  see previous Apple update.