Apple's treatment of workers in China

SO I received an email today talking about apple's worker treatment in China. To be truthful I wouldn't know where to start when they all talk about this topic. Like to be exact...Should apple raise the worker's standard in China? Cause between everyone's opinion, I know there's a lot of details not specified around the net that not a lot of people know.

Link to one of the many URL's about this:
http://www.newser.com/story/117584/apples-china-factories-treat-workers-like-machines.html

I would just go on any search engine, and look up Apple treatment of workers if you want any more info.

The main reason companies do work in China is because workers get absolutely no rights, hence they don't have to pay the decent wages or pay any expense for them. Its the same reason companies use illegal immigrants. Disposable labor to them

Same here in Germany.... the technological equipment are cheaper over there and workers are very cheap to buy. Kinda like forced labor.

Since the economy is doing so bad as well it's no wonder that ANY job would do, even if get paid by a little. Workers are desperate and suffering, and Apple and other companies are using that to their advantage to treat the Chinese workers how they see fit.

To all that responded, exactly!!! But the reason why I don't get why people are saying to treat them more ethically! If they hated the job so much, they could quit and find another one. Its not like theres no other option. Thats why I dont get why people in the U.S still complain about it! But who am I kidding, thats how some people are and they will do anything to make their point.

When things get bad enough, the people will rise and rebel just like us americans did in the revolutionary war. Things just havent reached the perverbial boiling point jet.

No they can't. China has over 1.7 Billion people, if they quit that job there are 100 more people wanting to take it, thus they have no job and can't find one because they have to compete with the 10,000 people in the area for the same job. (numbers are exaggerations but still).

Not trying to be mean, but next time I suggest you read up some more and know more about economy and the economical situations in other countries before posting. My aunt is one of the best surgeons in Wuhan, but she can't quit her bankrupt hospital because there are simply no other jobs available even though she's only paid 2500RMB per month.

(for those of you who don't know, the current exchange rate from RMB to Dollar is around 6.3:1)

@Wing, there have been multiple rebellions in the past 150 years in China. Prior to 1940, all of them failed because Great Britain and France were Imperialistic asses and shot down the rebellions.

There is a strict gun-control law in China. There is simply no way any number of unarmed civilians can beat millions of armed troops. America and the UN can't do shit against China because America owes most of its 15 trillion dollar debt to China.

There won't be a revolution in China.

See the last one they tried.



Yeah, flattened by tanks/never heard from again.

And the US won't lift a finger to help if that happens, because the US owes China a fuckton of money. Oh, they'll file the usual diplomatic protest, but that's it.

Not only that, but China is actually much more prosperous today than in 1989. While a lot of Chinese are still poor, much more aren't compared to 23 years ago. It is _very_ far from the "booling point" and getting farther. I mean, look at all the jobs Apple is bringing in!

If it didn't work then, it sure as hell won't work now.

Just like the Soviet Union with Mikhail Gorbachev, there must be an internal change from a strong liberal leader to change China.

putin loves it when people think like this.

The land and the industry got the people right where they want them.

First lets look at some facts.
Fact # 1. There are over 1 billion people (overpopulation)
Fact # 2. Industries don't pay as much as they used to, and since the economy is surely to break down there will be desperate actions taken.
Fact # 3. Leaders and politics are not taking this matter very serious and they have a long history of suffering under extreme circumstances.

Apple can't raise their wages otherwise the people would work there for a long time and then there would be no place for younger generations to take the job. other than that, they could hire MORE people, but then the productions of the Apple products in the USA would be cheap and sometimes be affordable to almost every household. So Apple has to keep it at some limits for their company to stay at the top in the market competition.

I am sorry to say this, but this is a hard and true fact.

Sorry if I looked like I didnt have a clue about the topic, but I know some of the people who worked at those Foxconn factories...the manager who is my 3rd cousins uncle said they could quit if they "wanted to", but they dont because like what you said once they quit someone else will take it from them, so they stay in it.The only thing I wonder about is why people report about workers committing suicide. Thats what I'm trying to express at the moment. I mean I know the economy is bad (I've seen it, its almost like in Manila's port) but I wouldn't go so far as into jumping off a roof because of a job. But then I never see what they go through behind the closed doors so I can't be entirely sure about it. So yeah :P

My father owned a small business as well.

I asked him why he pays so little?
He answered this and it is true, doesn't take a rocket scientist to find this out.
"I have to buy products for the business and that costs alot of money, and then there are business fees to pay to hold your business straight, and then he must earn money himself to pay for food on the table, and then there are employees.

So the principals of business is this... the boss always gotta make more money than the workers and if he pays them more, then there is less for him and then he would need to buyer fewer cleaning products and equipment which is a bad idea. Also not keeping up the payment and then business goes down all BECAUSE of employees.

The reality is... that those who make their own business and companies need to keep their limits and not go overboard, especially employees.

The economy is really breaking down and we might be heading to a great depression, which is why people are getting desperate.

Pretty much :(

Well, you have to look at Japan which has one of the highest suicide rates of a developed country. Some people can't take it anymore and is stuck between letting their family down, or continuing a hellish job. So they take the 3rd option.

Same thing happened during the Great Depression.

And I thought the chinese and japanese had different cultures :L

China has us by the balls with our debt from wars we couldn't even fund without support. So, it isn't like we could do anything even if we wanted to, because they would cut off their support of paying off our tax debts. Plus, have you seen how much stuff China pumps out in a month? Most, if not all of the world's supply of things major and miscellaneous. A regular Chinese citizen works for about $3-$4 a day, a US citizen is required by law in my area of Idaho to have $7.25 an hour and that is just minimum wage. So which one to you looks like you could save the most money, with the least resistance to fight back about being treated unfairly or go to Unions? Chinese workers. So think of this from Apple's stand point. Also, a US citizen needs things such as insurance (any on the job accidents that the company has to pay for), a lunch break, time off of work, and also has the support of Unions around America. While, a Chinese worker has no Unions for support, works for half if not under half the minimum wage, and would probably get killed for speaking against their government.

That is misleading. A lot of that can be contributed to their culture as a whole. In a society where rape and molestation are regular if not mandatory occurrences, a stigma that money is everything despite Japan being in debt 220% of GDP, and a long history of suicide [kamikaze, seppuku etc] it's not surprising.

American society in the 1920's and Japan's society today are two very different things, so don't get too ahead of yourself yet.

The average worker is paid 600 RMB (60 GBP/95 USD) or so every month, or in cases even lower. Not to mention the greedy bosses who just 'forget' about salaries and make them work overtime with no pay. Trust me, Apple is NOT the only company that does this to its Chinese workers. Tens of Millions of workers are overworked and given little to no pay in the whole of China and seeing as how China has something like 1.0 billion people who are workers labour can only be cheap. It's a good thing that Chinese living costs have not yet risen to Western standards; otherwise workers would die like weeds.

Everyone knows that workers are mistreated in China, but the Chinese themselves keep it quiet as they know it's futile to say ANYTHING at all. The CCP rules China with an iron fist and nobody dares to speak even if they know. The rich do deals with officials and get richer while the poor are pushed further and further into shit creek without a paddle. There was this one protest back in Shenzhen when I was shopping with my mother when a small protest broke out; all unaffiliated personnel were immediately told to stay indoors by local security and within an hour ALL traces of the riot was cleared as if nothing happened. The protesters simply vanished. And they jammed all connections during that one hour.

How do you expect a country like this to take care of its workers? And why would the country let a worker 'get more than he deserves'? Hell 99% of the yearly charities are swallowed by corrupt officials and poor people resort to cannibalism to survive. The worst part is that EVERYONE KNOWS yet THEY DO NOTHING.