By: Terril Yue Jones and Charles Duhigg and David Barboza respectively
According to inspections by the Fair Labor Association Apple factories in China have ideal working conditions except for the lack of emotional support for those who have left their families for the first time. Suicides, injuries and reports that workers work more than 60 hours a week have all been dismissed. The official position is that there are to be no immediate conclusions on the working conditions. I disagree, the inspections and studies have all been done by "inside" companies and the whole idea practically reeks of a cover up. Naturally opinions like this have been dismissed as sheer nonsense. Reports have been made that workers feel threatened with losing their jobs if they do not comply with the companies policies like "Work hard on the job today or work hard tomorrow finding a job." While Apple is not the only company using methods such as these to coerce their workers it does not make it right. Everything is about production and profit and the sad truth of the matter is so long as there is a demand for new products and more money change will be a long time in coming.