"We Could Have Saved Lives"

January 25, 2012 9:58 PM

On Sunday, The New York Times published "How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work" (previous thread), which examined Apple's overseas labor in relation to the declining American middle-class. Today, a new Times story, "Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad," tells the tale of Lai Xiaodong, the shy and dutiful Foxconn worker who worked long hours day for a pittance and was killed in a chemical explosion created by unsafe conditions (Sacom report, PDF). As previously discussed, Apple has pledged greater transparency, continuing to audit its suppliers through the Fair Labor Association. But in the wake of record profits, how much is enough? Will Apple's efforts be enough to prevent ongoing abuses -- especially when the code of conduct compliance among suppliers remains iffy?
posted by ed (6 comments total)

An explosion at a sawmill in north-central British Columbia killed 2 people and devastated the town, likely because the company did not follow certain safety standards about venting particulate. So, 2 people are dead and a town of 3000 is left without an employer. How many people who live in a wood-frame house think about the human cost of lumber? My point is, human lives are in input into almost anything and everything we consume, not just Apple products. It's part of consumer culture.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:03 PM on January 25, 2012 [2 favorites]

The truth is Apple is just barely holding on. If they weren't using cheap Chinese labor the company would probably have to shut its doors.
posted by gerryblog at 10:11 PM on January 25, 2012

From the NYT link:

One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.

A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”

It's interesting to watch people's varying reactions to this in different online discussions.
posted by nfg at 10:14 PM on January 25, 2012 [1 favorite]

Apple gets the press because:

It's the biggest public company in the world; and

(speculation) Most tech journalists have at least one Apple product within arm's reach right now, in a way that was never so directly apparent with Exxon products when they were the world's largest public company; and

As a percentage of revenue Apple pretty much only makes products for consumers, which is interesting no matter how you feel about iPads. When'e the last time a chunk of coal on your desk reminded you of how unsafe that industry remains?

posted by 2bucksplus at 10:17 PM on January 25, 2012 [1 favorite]

The 4 day old thread is still open by the way.
posted by Talez at 10:22 PM on January 25, 2012

Finagle a deal where Apple can repatriate its billions by bringing production back to the USA?
posted by davidpriest.ca at 10:22 PM on January 25, 2012