Apple’s China Problem is Our Problem

In a letter to Apple employees about the company’s supply chain, CEO Tim Cook opened up by saying:

As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are. For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers’ manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren’t as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.

Unfortunately, the contract workers at Foxconn do not count as Apple employees and did not receive the email (if they even have access). I doubt the concerns raised in newspapers and blogs would be offensive. I would hope they would find it to be a voice for them as well as a call on big corporations to take into account the horrific working conditions.

If Apple cares about the people in their supply chain then there are things they can do about it. This is not to say consumers, like myself, bear no responsibility. Buyers of the iPhone or other tech products know where these things come from. I know my Apple products are manufactured in China and without doing some research knew they labored under inhumane conditions.

Sadly, consumers lack choices in purchasing fair trade products. The markets has yet to come around to this because they cost a little more and the economy crushed many of our pocketbooks.

Regardless, Apple, other tech companies, as well as other producers, can take steps to curb these human rights abuses. Mike Elgan at Culture of Mac simplified a few of the options:

1. Move manufacturing out of China.
2. Take a hands-off approach to worker welfare.
3. Aggressively chip away at the problems associated with contract manufacturing with a program of iterative improvement, higher standards, constant audits and growing transparency.
4. Initiate an aggressive program of paying component suppliers and contract manufacturers more in exchange for transparency, worker welfare and environmental safeguards.

One and two do not really work in the short-term nor the long-term. The second option would only further the problem currently facing Apple’s image and the world-wide practice we see at Foxconn. The first could be a winner for workers in the United States but the transition process would be costly and take years.

Elgan says Apple is currently doing number three but should also aggressively implement the fourth option. It would act as an incentive program for contracted factories and suppliers to do the right thing. Monetary incentives can work, but only if they come with oversight. Who is to say they will claim the better practices while pocketing the incentives?

So it comes down to oversight. This is where a fifth option exists.

If we made trade fair other countries would need to implement regulations on workers rights, environment, and more. Having these laws on the books provide must follow guidelines for companies. Workers would be guaranteed a certain wage, sustainable work hours, and proper protections against harmful chemicals.

But that is too logical. It takes into account fellow human beings while the bottom line for corporations is to make money for their shareholders. Countering this culture takes time and activism. The 99 percent movement highlights many of these problems and has pushed income inequality into the news cycle. The pressure need to continue on corporations and on elected officials.

But Apple has piled up billions of dollars on the backs of people that threaten to kill themselves over the torturous work.

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