Apple, you again?

Translated by chong

Back from Dongguan. There is something not convenient to talk in Mainland China. Now I want to grumble about it.

I really don't know what Apple is messing up. On April 20, I went to the factory of Masstop in Sangyuen Industrial District (Dongguan) and interviewed workers outside the factory. It was already three days after the strike. The owner usually takes repressive measure to control the workers. Masstop is no exception. The workers were most probably afraid of being retaliation and did not talk much. But if you really want to ask something, you would get it. If Apple had sent a delegate to hang around outside the factory for a whole day, he/she could have know what bad things the Masstop is doing.

In fact, Apple is a big brandname holding some many orders. It is even more powerful than the local officials if it really wanted to enter the factory for checkup. It could even ask the senior management to stand aside to let the examiner to check everywhere within the factory. But since Apple placed the order on Masstop, it has let it go and do whaterever Masstop, Wintek's subsidary in Dongguan, wants.

Wintek is already not the first case. The most famous one is the Foxconn in 2006. The Mail on Sunday in Britain and the First Financial in Shanghai covered the story of the Foxconn's sweatshop which manufacturing Apple's iPod in June. It was revealed that the dormitory, meal, wage and overtime fees are far below the standard. Everybody knows that Foxconn is arrogant. But do you know what happened? Foxconn immediately held a press conference in its headquarter in Tucheng, Taipei. The spokeperson Ding Qian said that this was the first time to meet the reporters there. At the beginning I thought I was new to the big building of Foxconn. But in fact it was the first time all reporters to come. In other words, Foxconn was so afraid of losing orders, it explained to the public immediately and held its first conference in its headquarter. At the same time, it was also the first time for Foxconn to invite Taiwanese correspondent in the Pearl River Delta to visit its factories in Longhua, Shenzhen.

The incident of Foxconn has some impact on Apple. Apple said that it would examine the factory and ask the suppliers to improve. In August 2006, Apple released an investigative report to confirm that Foxconn needs improvement. However, Apple does not learn its lesson from it to control its suppliers.

Absolutely not. in 2008, SACOM dug out another case. The Taiwanese company Primax, which manufactures the lens of iPhone and other components, was found not paying labor insurance, extremely long working hours and industrial danger.

Now one more case of Masstop. Is it too much for Apple?

The situation of Masstop is easily to be found only if you are a normal person. Take the example of meal. It is cooked like a mess. It even smells stingy in rustled plates. On April 3, the meal is so bad that about one hundred of people was hospitalized for food poisoning. Apple even pretends not to know this serious incident. It is really outrageous.

The illegal layoff in the Taiwanese company and the illegal cutting overtime fees in Masstop could be found very easily. When the discontented workers protested and struggled, Wintek just brought it to the court and Masstop fired for retaliation. These violate the regulation for protecting "whistle blower" in the codes of practice for suppliers. The Taiwanese government refuses to take responsibility for these violations while the China government collaborates with the factory owners. And Apple just pretends to be innocent? Apple would only choose the supplier who would sue anyone challenging them. In 2006, Foxconn sued the reporter of the First Financial. Now Wintek sued the workers of the self-help group and the executive officer of the Independent Workers' Union (Both are in Taiwan).

Apple is a brand name who is afraid of being tarnished by sweatshop resulting in consumer boycott. It requires its suppliers to sign the code of practices of the electronic industry. Now the situation is like this. While Apple's products are selling good and it expands its production, it does not take the so-called "corporate social responsibility". You may say it is just an accident if it only happened once or twice. But not it happened again and it is a big strike. Now it is already confirmed that Apple is not able to keep its words to control its suppliers when it extends its supply chains.

Last week, Apple announced its most recent financial report that its profit rapidly increased by 15% until March 28. It make a net profit of US$1.2 billion. Why didn't it use a small part of its profit to conduct a full examination of the labor condition in its suppliers, not to mention allocating a little bit profit to the lowest rank of workers on assembly? Is it difficult?

Signature Campaign: Reform WINTEK working conditions