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back to article Flaming heck! Watchdog scolds Apple Mac, iPad fab in staff safety probe

Apple is back in the crosshairs of human rights groups, which claim the corporation has not done enough to stamp out alleged mistreatment of workers at iThing factories. China Labor Watch and Green America claim that a joint investigation has uncovered dangerous conditions and excessive working hours at a plant that produces …

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  1. Gray Ham Bronze badge

    "The Chinese firm also manufactures hardware components for HP, Dell, Lenovo, Motorola, HTC and Sony."

    And what, if anything, are these companies doing about it? At least Apple have acknowledged the concerns and are apparently taking some action. Progress is certainly slower than one would like, but it seems unfair to target Apple exclusively.

    7 1 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Clickbait

      Articles about Apple get clicks, where the same article about Dell will elicit only yawns. Ditto if this article concerned Samsung it will gain more attention than if it was about LG.

      4 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Interesting timing

    Am I the only one who gets the impression that these sort of "discoveries" always show up just before a product launch? It's almost like someone is trying to get the stock price down prior to the launch event...

    2 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Interesting timing

      Don't be silly. Human rights violations have no influence on the stock price. If anything, investors are happy to see the company is pinching pennies on expendables.

      Now, it is entirely possible that human rights groups time their releases before a big launch, because of the added media attention.

      1 0 Reply
      1. Richard Jones 1
        Reply Icon

        Re: Interesting timing

        It might well be interesting for another couple of reasons.

        1) The launch of a new anything, not 'just' an iThing, comes with a blast of publicity so it 'might' strengthen the publicity for change.

        2) Given the potentially explosive nature of the dust, having the factory blow up just before a launch might not be the best ever event!

        3) Now a cynical observation, the new EU vacuum cleaner rules mean that high power machines might be cheap at the moment so facilitating the required clean up.

        Few people realise just how dangerous such dust can be before it blows up and even fewer have an awareness after the blast and fire has wiped them out.

        0 0 Reply
  3. Caesarius

    Falling between two stools

    Actually seven stools: I can imagine the seven companies named all hesitating to make changes, because none is the majority user. That's a possible explanation, not an excuse.

    So it's interesting that Apple is singled out for blame. Like Gray Ham said, what about the other companies?

    0 1 Reply
  4. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Watchdog scolds Apple Mac, iPad fab ..

    I don't know why Apple is singled out for special mention, considering these factories also manufacture gear for most other major western companies.

    "China Labor Watch Shouts Nonsense At Apple Again"

    Who exactly is behind "China Labor Watch" and "Green America" anyway?

    0 0 Reply

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