Tim Cook responds to claims of factory worker mistreatment:

[The Straight Story]

Tim Cook responds to claims of factory worker mistreatment: “We care about every worker in our supply chain”

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has not been shy on the emailing as of late, sent out a lengthy letter to all of his employees that is a direct response to these recent reports of factory worker mistreatment. Cook’s opening:

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.

Some key points from the email:

“Every year we inspect more factories, raising the bar for our partners and going deeper into the supply chain. As we reported earlier this month, we’ve made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers. We know of no one in our industry doing as much as we are, in as many places, touching as many people.”
“We are focused on educating workers about their rights, so they are empowered to speak up when they see unsafe conditions or unfair treatment. As you know, more than a million people have been trained by our program.”
“We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain. On this you have my word. You can follow our progress at apple.com/supplierresponsibility.”

http://9to5mac.com/2012/01/26/tim-cook-responds-to-claims-of-factory-worker-mistreatment-we-care-about-every-worker-in-our-supply-chain/

[Ikonoklast]

1. Apple wants the cheapest labor that they can find...period.

If they actually cared about the humans they exploit in a their chase for profits, they would demand that their partners in production pay them a living wage.

Apple is no better a corporation than Exxon; they are driven by profits over everything else.

[onehandle]

2. Where are the statements from all the other tech companies using the same labor?

Oh right. They're not addressing the issue. Only Apple is.

A sampling of these companies:

Acer Inc.
Amazon.com
ASRock
Asus
Barnes & Noble
Cisco
Dell
EVGA Corporation
Hewlett-Packard
Intel
IBM
Lenovo
Logitech
Microsoft
MSI
Motorola
Netgear
Nintendo
Nokia
Panasonic
Philips
Samsung
Sharp
Sony Ericsson
Toshiba
Vizio

[frazzled]

5. Exactly, this is an issue for every single tech company

If you are typing your outrage about this on a Dell computer or Sony laptop or using cell phone made by Motorola or Nokia, or using an HP printer, or have a television from Sharp or Toshiba ... or if you play video games on Wii or X-box 360, or have a Kindle or Nook reader, etc.: you are a part of this problem, too.

All of these products are made at the very same factory--Foxconn--as Apple products, and have the very same issues.

Also, as Paul Krugman explains in today's NYT, it's not all (or even mostly) about cheap labor:

Why does Apple manufacture abroad, and especially in China? As the article explained, it’s not just about low wages. China also derives big advantages from the fact that so much of the supply chain is already there. A former Apple executive explained: “You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That’s the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away.”

This is familiar territory to students of economic geography: the advantages of industrial clusters — in which producers, specialized suppliers, and workers huddle together to their mutual benefit — have been a running theme since the 19th century.

And Chinese manufacturing isn’t the only conspicuous example of these advantages in the modern world. Germany remains a highly successful exporter even with workers who cost, on average, $44 an hour — much more than the average cost of American workers. And this success has a lot to do with the support its small and medium-sized companies — the famed Mittelstand — provide to each other via shared suppliers and the maintenance of a skilled work force.

The point is that successful companies — or, at any rate, companies that make a large contribution to a nation’s economy — don’t exist in isolation. Prosperity depends on the synergy between companies, on the cluster, not the individual entrepreneur.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/opinion/krugman-jobs-jobs-and-cars.html?_r=1&hp

[Dreamer Tatum]

6. Krugman's politics are at odds with his own academic research.nt

[dmkinsey]

7. The NY Times reported that other corporations allowed somewhat larger profit

for the manufacturer.
The other companies, like HP, acknowledge that if they don't leave some margin for the manufacturer safety is the first thing thrown overboard.
It seems as though all agreed that Apple wants every penny.

[Dreamer Tatum]

3. I could have made that statement far shorter and infinitely more meaningful:

"I'm directing our suppliers to double the wages of workers in our supply chain, effective immediately."

Done.

Oh, but wait - that might shorten his yacht by two feet. Nevermind.

[joeybee12]

4. A perfect example of corporate bullshit right there...

Doesn't really address the issues, tries to point the spotlight elsewhere.

Corporations are soulless entities because the people who rise in the hierarchy of them are soulless entities.

[Scurrilous]

8. "As we reported earlier this month, we’ve made a great deal of progress.."

Now with large comfy pillows under the suicide nets to cushion your landing in case you bounce.

Progress! Production!! Profits!!1!

[sad sally]

9. As long as American corporations own politics, there will be blind eyes toward fairness.

Communications/Electronics: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups
Election cycle: 2012
Total contributions: $44,925,020



Rank Organization Amount Dems Repubs Source Indivs PACs Soft $
1 DreamWorks Animation SKG $2,262,600 11% 0%
2 Chartwell Partners $2,181,900 0% 8%
3 AT&T Inc $1,592,581 36% 64%
4 Comcast Corp $1,519,149 61% 38%
5 Microsoft Corp $1,056,072 67% 33%
6 Eli Publishing $1,000,000 0% 0%
7 Verizon Communications $730,587 45% 55%
8 Time Warner $684,095 83% 17%
9 Newsweb Corp $641,300 6% 0%
10 Google Inc $623,315 75% 25%
11 National Amusements Inc $613,360 64% 22%
12 National Assn of Broadcasters $593,150 52% 48%
13 Shangri-La Entertainment $495,100 19% 0%
14 CC Media Holdings $375,800 26% 74%
15 Time Warner Cable $372,093 45% 55%
16 News Corp $358,753 66% 35%
17 Walt Disney Co $345,881 75% 24%
18 Sony Corp $300,482 83% 17%
19 National Cable & Telecommunications Assn $284,500 52% 48%
20 Cisco Systems $278,476 60% 40%