The Bloody Cost of Apple's Success On a Friday night in May 2011, an explosion rocked Building A5. Flames shot out, the sound was deafening, and twisted metal pipes lay scattered like discarded straw. Workers eating in the cafeteria ran outside, watching as windows shattered and thick black smoke billowed from the building. The explosion happened in a polishing workshop that produced iPad parts. There, workers polished thousands of aluminum casings for iPads every day.
Two deaths were confirmed on the spot, with more than ten injured. The wounded were rushed to ambulances, one of them particularly grievously hurt: his face was unrecognizable, bloodied and charred by the force and heat of the explosion. His features were indistinguishable, only red-black flesh where his nose and mouth used to be.
Back home, the victim's father received a call. Six months prior, 23-year-old Lai Xiaodong had moved to Chengdu, a three-hour drive from his hometown of Mianyang, for work. Here stood the world’s largest, most efficient, and most sophisticated manufacturing system, capable of producing electronics for Apple and hundreds of other tech companies at unprecedented speeds. Lai Xiaodong became one of the millions of "human gears" keeping this vast machine running.
"Are you Lai Xiaodong's father? Your son has been in an accident. Come to the hospital quickly," said the voice on the other end. Over the past decade, Apple has become one of the world's largest, richest, and most successful companies, largely due to its mastery over global manufacturing. Skilled at controlling costs through production location shifts, Apple and other American high-tech companies, along with various American industries, have developed at an unparalleled pace in modern history within innovation sectors. However, according to interviews conducted by The New York Times with workers and industry analysts, as well as relevant company documents, the workers assembling and manufacturing products such as iPhones and iPads often work under arduous, sometimes fatal conditions. Some workers reported leg swelling due to prolonged standing, making it difficult to walk; others died or were hospitalized from industrial accidents or exposure to toxic chemicals. (Related report: Apple CEO responds to The New York Times' "sweatshop" report)
According to reports from worker rights organizations and Apple itself, child labor in the manufacture of Apple products does exist. Some suppliers illegally discharge harmful waste and then falsify data to cover it up. Two years ago, at an Apple supplier factory in eastern China, 137 workers suffered nerve damage after using toxic n-hexane to clean iPhone screens. Last year, two explosions similar to the one in Chengdu occurred at factories producing iPads, resulting in four deaths and 77 injuries. An organization had warned Apple beforehand that the working environment at the Chengdu facility was dangerous; however, according to the organization, Apple did not insist on strengthening safety measures at the plant.
"If someone had warned Apple beforehand, and it did nothing, that behavior is condemnable. But it is precisely because what is unacceptable in one country can pass elsewhere that these companies gain advantage," said Nick Ashford, former chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, which directly advises the U.S. Department of Labor.
Apple is not the only electronics company with harsh production environments in its supply chain. Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sony, Motorola, Nokia, and others have also been found to have severe working conditions in their production workshops. Moreover, both former and current Apple executives have stated that in recent years, Apple has made significant progress in improving working conditions at its overseas factories. For instance, it initiated an active audit program, promptly ordering corrections when problems are found in supplier factories. Just this month, Apple published its list of major suppliers for the first time. Its annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report often reveals cases of worker rights violations first. Apple executives are also highly committed to eliminating child labor and involuntary overtime.
However, many key issues remain unresolved. In Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct, there are detailed regulations regarding labor issues, safety protection, and many other areas. According to Apple's reports, since 2007, at least half of the suppliers audited by Apple have violated at least one guideline, some even breaking local laws.
"Apple basically only cares about two things: improving quality and reducing costs. Whether workers' welfare is good or bad has little to do with the company's interests," said Li Mingqi. Li worked as a senior manager at Foxconn, Apple's most important manufacturing partner, until two months before the explosion. Li once helped set up the new Chengdu factory where the May explosion occurred.
Some former Apple executives revealed that violations keep happening because Apple hasn't resolved this conflict: some managers genuinely want to improve workers' environments, but once conflicts arise with core suppliers or affect the speed of new product releases, management's resolve wavers. The existing system isn't perfect, the former executives said, but substantial changes would inevitably impact product innovation timelines, thus threatening Apple's competitive edge.
"If half of the iPhones malfunctioned, do you think Apple could ignore it for four years? We've known about some labor conditions in factories for more than four years, yet they remain unchanged. Why? Because this system benefits us. If Apple says it must change, the suppliers will comply immediately," said a former Apple administrator who wished to remain anonymous. Many interviewees in this article also requested anonymity due to confidentiality agreements.
Apple claims in public reports that it will terminate cooperation with suppliers if violations are discovered. However, several former Apple executives privately admitted that finding new suppliers is both time-consuming and expensive. Foxconn is one of the few suppliers with the labor force and technical advantages needed to produce iPhones and iPads. Harvard scholar Catherin White believes that Apple "will never leave Foxconn, nor leave China. Apple's management hasn't truly spent time delving into the realities of the factories. In the short term, neither Apple nor Foxconn will make concessions on key issues, for various reasons." White was once a member of the National Academy of Sciences International Monitoring Labor Standards Representative Committee.
The New York Times contacted Apple and provided a summary of most of the content in this article, but Apple maintained its usual secretive stance and refused to comment. The interview content in this article comes from 36 current or former Apple employees and Apple suppliers, six of whom had firsthand information from Apple's Supplier Responsibility team.
Steve Jobs, Apple's former CEO who passed away in October last year, spoke about Apple's relationship with suppliers at an industry conference in 2010: "I believe Apple's understanding and efforts regarding the working conditions of companies in its supply chain are probably the best in the industry."
"For example, if you visit a factory, it's still a factory, but my goodness, you'll see they have restaurants, cinemas, hospitals, and swimming pools. For a factory, if it has these facilities, it's quite a good factory," he said.
Respondents, including those who work in these factories, acknowledged the presence of dining halls and medical equipment but denied that the factories could be considered "good."
A former Apple executive said, "We have indeed made great efforts to improve working conditions. But if iPhone owners could see how their phones are made, most would likely feel very uncomfortable."
Excerpted from: www.nmny.cn Please credit the source if reprinted. Related thematic articles: WHO recommendations on infant feeding, drug packaging and regulations.