Thursday, March 15, 2012

Apple Factory Conditions in China

Connie Gugliemo
www.forbes.com
An investigation was held by Nightline at one of the Apple factories called Foxconn. After going in and seeing the working conditions, masked and gloved workers told Nightline that they handle over 6,000 units each during a 6 hour shift. After more than 12 Foxconn workers killed themselves in 2010, suicide prevention nets were installed at the building. Bill Weir (Nightline correspondent) says, "Their faces are blank as they insert a chip or wipe a screen or plug in a diagnostic cable to hear that everything is “Okay.”" The starting salary at Foxconn is $285 a month, or $1.78 an hour. As of February 22, Foxconn claims that they plan to raise the wage fron 16 to 25 percent which puts the monthly wage to $350 per month. FLA (Fair Labor Association) has started an audit (which Apple is paying for.) The results of this investigation will be posted sometime in March.