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Apple's number one supplier in hotwater

by on13 October 2010


Sweatshop allegations rear up in China
Claims that Hon Hai, maker of Apple's iPhone, is abusing its workers have reared up again. Two official reports have slammed Hon Hai's work practices which have helped make it, at Apple, very rich.

One report, based on interviews with over 1700 workers by 20 universities in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, slammed Hon Hai for long working hours, a "militaristic" work culture and mass employment of low-wage vocational college students and interns on production lines to cut costs. Hon Hai and its Hong Kong based Foxconn unit, which make iPhones and iPads for Apple and goods for Dell and Hewlett-Packard among others, said that the reports made "unsubstantiated allegations" and said it treated and paid its workers well.

This is why the suicide rate at its plants is jolly high we guess.

However the company said in a statement that it “strongly and categorically rejects reports in the Chinese and international media that are attributed to research by academics and students alleging worker abuse, illegal labor practices, and unsafe working conditions at our operations in China.” A second report by Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) said many staff were still paid minimum wage levels in some factories despite promises to increase basic wages to around $304 by October. Hon Hai was hiring young students and interns on a vast scale at low
wages to mitigate soaring costs that have eaten into profits.

SACOM also attacked Jobs Mob for not taking a price hike to provide a  living wage for the makers of its toys.
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