revealed inadvertently in a new report.
Released today by watchdog group China Labor Watch, the report accuses
Apple supplier Pegatron of several worker abuses, including safety
violations, poor living conditions, and excessive overtime.
Page 11 of the 62-page report describes Pegatron as assembling cell
phones and tablets for Apple. "Its assembled products include iPhone
4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, and low-priced plastic iPhones," the report
said.
The long, difficult day in the life of one factory worker is detailed
further in the report. Page 28 describes that worker's task with the
plastic iPhone:
Today's work is to paste protective film on the iPhone's plastic
back cover to prevent it from being scratched on assembly lines. This
iPhone model with a plastic cover will soon be released on the market
by Apple. The task is pretty easy, and I was able to work
independently after a five-minute instruction from a veteran employee.
It took around a minute to paste protective film on one rear cover.
The new cell phone has not yet been put into mass production, so
quantity is not as important.
The report's purpose apparently was to find out how a low-cost iPhone
can be produced.
The executive summary specifically states: "Apple is preparing to
release a cheap iPhone. Just how does a prosperous company like Apple
produce a discounted version of its phones?" Another question asks:
"So what is the competitive advantage that Pegatron has utilized to
win Apple's order of the cheap iPhone?"
The report blames some of the violations on the rush to create a cheaper iPhone:
At this moment, in Shanghai, China, workers in Apple's supplier
factory Pegatron are monotonously working long overtime hours to turn
out a scaled-back, less expensive version of the iPhone. Six days a
week, the workers making these phones have to work almost 11-hour
shifts, 20 minutes of which is unpaid, and the remainder of which is
paid at a rate of $1.50 an hour ($268 per month) before overtime. This
is less than half the average local monthly income of $764 and far
below the basic living wage necessary to live in Shanghai, one of
costliest cities in China. So these workers rely on long overtime
hours. If a worker does not finish three months at Pegatron, the
dispatch company that got the worker hired will deduct a large portion
of his wages.
The report goes on to highlight the labor violations claimed by China
Labor Watch, which sent investigators to three Pegatron factories to
conduct almost 200 interviews with workers from March to July.
China Labor Watch said it found at least 86 labor rights violations,
including 36 legal violations and 50 ethical violations, across 15
categories: dispatch labor abuse, hiring discrimination, women's
rights violations, underage labor, contract violations, insufficient
worker training, excessive working hours, insufficient wages, poor
working conditions, poor living conditions, difficulty in taking
leave, labor health and safety concerns, ineffective grievance
channels, abuse by management, and environmental pollution.
In response to the report, Apple sent a statement to The Wall Street
Journal in which it said it has been in contact with China Labor Watch
to investigate the allegations. Pegatron CEO Jason Cheng said: "We
will investigate [the allegations] fully and take immediate actions to
correct any violations to Chinese labor laws and our own code of
conduct."
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