From New York Times

Continue Here

In the last decade, Apple has become one of the mightiest, richest and most successful companies in the world, in part by mastering global manufacturing. Apple and its high-technology peers — as well as dozens of other American industries — have achieved a pace of innovation nearly unmatched in modern history.

However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems.

Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records, according to company reports and advocacy groups that, within China, are often considered reliable, independent monitors.

More troubling, the groups say, is some suppliers’ disregard for workers’ health. Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhonescreens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77. Before those blasts, Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chengdu plant, according to a Chinese group that published that warning.

“If Apple was warned, and didn’t act, that’s reprehensible,” said Nicholas Ashford, a former chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, a group that advises the United States Labor Department. “But what’s morally repugnant in one country is accepted business practices in another, and companies take advantage of that.”

Apple is not the only electronics company doing business within a troubling supply system. Bleak working conditions have been documented at factories manufacturing products for Dell, Hewlett-Packard, I.B.M., Lenovo, Motorola, Nokia, Sony, Toshiba and others.

Does human rights issues in regard to technology production concern you as a tech-savvy person? Should America bring such work back to homeland? Should US labor laws apply outside of the country when the company originated in the US?

Jobs wanted to bring the jobs (pun!) back to the US. Unfortunately, the heavy restrictions placed on manufacturers make it very, very expensive to bring the work back here.

Unless you are willing to pay $1,000 for an iPhone, that is.

Not at all suprising, Apple didn't get to be so rich by playing fairer than the competition.

Much like how people only cared about clothing made in sweatshops when it is affordable/unfashionable clothing lines that do it, people don't care if Apple "exploits" workers in China as long as they get to look cool by owning an Apple product

i wouldnt even consider it exploiting.

usually people who work at these "sweatshops" get paid higher wages than the average pay in that region. 

in fact these people are usually made worse off when companies are pressured (or forced due to regulation) to close down these "sweatshops" becuase they serve as some of the biggest sources of employment and revenue in the regions. Many people cant find work, or at comparable pay when sweatshops close down.

Yeah, this exactly. Regulation, minimum wage, taxes, etc. make it not worth it to have factories in North America. 

I wasn't really making a point about the conditions people are working in, I was primarily focused on the hypocracy of the typical person who protests these kinds of issues ... I've seen it many times in multiple industries, the "cool" product that is sold at a premium price will never get any negative press for paying "low wages" or having "poor working conditions", while the budget priced product will always get negative press under the same circumstances.

Is it that difficult to offer these people reasonable working conditions? I mean really it's 2012 we're not cavemen anymore!

Its not so much the minimum wage as it is everything else. I've never seen a factory where I live that has ever remotely paid minimum wage.

The problem is that, in America, the costs of manufacturing are generally outrageous in regards to permits and regulatory adherance, then of course, taxes on the corporation. There is usually a pretty notable distinction against hiring lots of full-time employees, as the larger a business grows, the more taxes and regulations are applied to it. For example, if you have over 20 full-time employees (which is almost always needed for a manufacturing company), you have to adhere to many more regulations and offer certain benefits...Making it very difficult to keep costs down.

Comparatively, if such laws weren't there, you'd likely see the cost of manufacturing plummet in the US. From my understanding, some states have focused so intently on removing these regulations (such as the Carolinas), that the cost of business is *almost* as cheap as China, and because of that, jobs are pouring into the state. Heck, in Georgia, there is a woodworking factory that is selling chopsticks to the Chinese at a rate of almost 1 billion units a year. Simply because their productivity is so high, and regulations are so agreeable (finally).

I wouldn't say that entirely.  Just take Texas for example.  You can be pretty much get fired if you try to start a union in any non union factory in Texas.  Sure there is a law that says they can't do that but that doesn't stop them with their intimidation or actual firing.  I don't even care to address the union factor because it is almost non existent in most manufacturing plants in Texas.  Texas also has pretty lax pollution standards and lets companies get away with just a slap on the wrist.  I can now move on to wages.  Most people in my plant are contract workers.  There are probably about 20-30% of the worker force that are hired on.  However, even after they hire you on you might even see a wage decrease for those all might benefits (they are actually pretty shitty compared to other jobs benefits).  So now you have most on contract not having to worry about health care cost, having paid time off, paid holidays, etc..  You pay a contract company probably 15-20 dollars a hour for each worker they hire on but you eliminate a lot of benefit costs.  The contract company then pays the worker 9.50-11 a hour and keeps anywhere from 4-10+ from each worker for every hour.  I am an ICT tester for Cisco boards after they come off the SMT line (after x-ray and add-on parts).  I first test the boards.  Granted my job is basic but there are issues that arise and you can't be completely brain dead.  I also have to stand for almost 8 hours a day while I work.  I get paid under 11 a hour with the 3rd shift bonus.  Even though it is slow sometimes (i work my ass off other times, especially after a tester quit and now they expect me to test for two lines most of the time unless both lines are running max speed).  Anyways, it would be nice to get 12+ since I supposedly handle thousands of dollars in server boards each day.