Auren van Heerden, the president of the Fair Labor Association, has already concluded that working conditions at Foxconn factories are much better than those at many other plants in China. The inspection of Apple’s major eight suppliers in the country, of which Foxconn is the tech giant’s key manufacturing partner, has just started. After a series of initial visits to Foxconn facilities, van Heerden is arguing that “the factories are first-class, the physical conditions are way above average.”
“When I stepped onto the Foxconn floor, I was surprised at how quiet it is compared with other plants,” FLA chief notes. “So the problem is not intensive work in a pressure-cooker environment, but rather a function of boredom, monotony, perhaps alienations.”
The statement refers to a number of suicides that have taken place at Foxconn in the past few years and have been typically blamed on inhuman conditions, since the manufacturer is known to demand large amounts of overtime while paying low wages. Van Heerden explains suicides, which have been regularly occurring at Chinese plants since the 1990s, with societal and cultural factors.
“Switching to an intense industrial lifestyle is quite a shock for young people who come to big cities from rural areas,” he comments. “And they can’t get the emotional support they need at factories.”
Van Heerden’s favorable report has been sharply criticized by activist group SumOfUs. “The FLA shouldn’t make any statements this early,” the organization’s executive director, Taren Stinkebrickner-Kauffman, claims. “What they’ve done so far is toured the premises by Foxconn executives. Were they really expecting that the company would readily show them the dark underbelly of the plant life on the first day?”
SumOfUs chief further alleges that the FLA is financed and controlled by the same firms it is set to monitor. He also believes that the organization outsources most of the “so-called monitoring” to for-profit companies. “All of their incentives line up to provide a clean bill of health to factories,” Stinkebrickner-Kauffman continues.
Just recently, the group delivered a petition to Apple around the world, asking the company to help improve working condition at its suppliers. Being now reportedly up to over 78,000 signatures, the petition seeks to make the next iPhone “the first ethical iPhone” in Apple’s history. Next week, SumOfUs members will deliver petitions to managers at local iPhone outlets.
However, Van Heerden denied speculations that the FLA may be generating a simplified, positive image of Apple suppliers. “Apple didn’t have to join our organization,” he explains. “The FLA system includes unexpected visits, full access, public reports. If Apple wanted to get away with Foxconn, there was a whole number of options available to them. The fact that they opted to join the FLA indicates that they are seriously concerned over the working environment of their employees.”
The planned study includes around 30 FLA members visiting two Foxconn facilities, one in Chengdu and another in Shenzhen. For over three weeks, they will anonymously interview approximately 35,000 workers on hiring practices, contract offerings, dorm room conditions, food quality, emotional health and if the company actually responds to employee complaints.
The data will reportedly be uploaded immediately, with a public interim report coming in early March. In a final report, the FLA will single out the facilities crying out for changes, and offer recommendations.
Still milking it! lol
When you don’t like the message attack the messenger.
SumOfUs does not include me.
SumofUs got caught looking stupid! They turned in all these petitions and got hammered by a competing organization. Makes them look like idiots…. which, they are.
This guy was following a script for how to get attention and it backfired. He will now possibly be hired by people stupider than he is.
can’t wait for this group to do the same to Microsoft, Amazon, Dell, HP, … Again, I wonder if they ever been over to the factories.
The SumOfUs comment was not completely without merit, but it’s pretty obvious that they are just trying to save face here. Call us back when you (meaning SumOfUs) have taken a look at the other technology manufacturing facilities in China, or have petitioned MS, Sharp, Google, HP, et al.
Till then, I would say you’re grandstanding.
Not only will this silence the bogus stories but it’ll shine a white hot light on the operations of other companies, some of whom have no doubt been enjoying the accusations against Apple.
Makes you wonder of these people have ever gone over there and seen things for themselves? A friend who moved here from China worked at Foxconn. He said compared to our standards its very poor at Foxconn. But in China Foxconn is a very good place to work for when compared to other choices. It all comes down to perspective. Our perspective is not the same as those in China. For them its a good place to work. For us its not.
Leaped before they looked…
1. Some of these protesters just jumped on a bandwagon against “success.” OR
2. Apple competitors complained.
No wonder Tim Cook was put out. He knew what he knew. Maybe social services agencies should practice unannounced visits to find out the true status of many who receive money fraudulently.
It’s jab Apple time and even NPR picked up the “bad” conditions story!
The problem in our society is that success is usually coupled with greed, fraud, and lack of any ethics. Our own politicians won’t legislate good ethics reform.
I am sure that were Steve Jobs alive he would be livid. What will the publications report now?
What else is new?
The trick to get maximum attention is to attack the largest target, whether or not they’re the biggest offender of whatever the cause is. So it makes sense they’d attack Apple. Was a time when people would go along with this approach and the attack would have the intended effect, but people have become hip to these tactics, and the companies themselves have been proactive. So, to say the least, this approach is obsolete and ineffective. If they really wanted things to change for the better in China, they would have worked WITH the companies.
Where were their clothes made?
All you have to do to see how well SomeOfUs walk the talk, just look in their closets and see how many of their clothes are bought from sweatshops in China. They should start here in North America and look at the conditions that the food they eat is harvested and how it is planted etc.
SumOfUs represent very FewOfUs! They are grandstanding. Perhaps someday they will find a worthy cause for their petitions and concerns. But this is NOT one of them. I hope they realize how much credibility they lose when their cause is empty. There are so many other issues that need real attention – perhaps they should do a little more homework before coming to school.
I’m less worried about the Apple’s of this world, and more concerned about the reducing amount of fat in the wontons and my local Chinese takeaway. Lets stay focused on whats important here in NZ everyone!
The article makes it very clear that that these comments are by no means supposed to be conclusive, and are being made after only the first few visits of what will be an extensive audit.
That the FLA president is making a statement to the press that “the facilities are first-class; the physical conditions are way, way above average of the norm” after only a few visits there speaks to how striking this fact is. And the president of the FLA, of anyone, should know
Amazing to me that Apple is in the spotlight here. Don’t tell me the IBM, Microsoft, HP, Dell, Samsung, Motorolla, etc don’t have the same or similar work environments oversees. While I would love to see these jobs shifted to America, you wouldn’t and shouldn’t get paid 2$/hour or whatever their small dollar wage is. I’m not saying this is right, but they act as if Apple is the only manufacturer that does this. How about we focus on why Apple won’t or doesn’t bring more jobs back the US where they belong.
I agree that Apple isn’t the only one, but they are the biggest single company in this sphere. They’re getting all of the heat because the other companies don’t come anywhere near the manufacturing demands that Apple does.
Mo-money mo-problems. If Nike or Calvin Klein suddenly became the richest companies in the world I am willing wager their factories would be under the same pressure.