The Time Article they're referencing is worth a read. Excellent reporting, and there's no excuses for Apple and Foxconn here.
this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2023
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Money. That's always the excuse.
I like how that report is both very neutral and apathetic, yet very scathing in its matter-of-fact presentation of accusation and defense. Or what passes for defense, anyway - I put more effort into pretending I didn't steal the last cookie as a kid than they did into selecting a canned generic response.
How do you rationalize purchasing one of Apple's phones when you read a report like this?
The idea that every manufacturer has the same problems, and that whilst this is not good, Apple is more across it than many other companies.
Survivorship bias.
If you look hard enough, there are companies out there that treat their workers better. Though there's no such thing as a suffering-free product nowadays.
Sent from my Fairphone
For women who assembled iPhones at a Foxconn plant in southern India, crowded dorms without flush toilets and food sometimes crawling with worms were problems to be endured for the paycheck.
Fucking disgusting
Is the Indian plant toxic or are foxconn factories toxic and the Indian government found out?
And India hasn't killed all their journalists yet
The sad fact, is as a consumer we're not protected from such draconian downright middle-aged fuckery with the transparency of who ultimately makes your gismo.
Like food ingredients, every consumer item should clearly include the underlying manufacturer. Then as consumers we can then choose when it comes to purchasing and selectively have an impact by boycotting these companies.
Hon Hai Precision the parent company manufactures ~40% of all consumer electronics that make choice for certain products alternative (if ethically better) difficult. Hon Hai are on my DO NOT BUY.
Absolute shame on all involved including Apple for their lack of governance (note any action is always retrospective, never proactive) over their contractors. This ain't the first time and will not be the last.
regulated capitalism
i feel as though the problem would continue because consumers prefer the slave wage special
just make it illegal to import electronics see how long these issues last
No greed dictates inflated cost and consumers willing to pay ridiculous markups. Casing point is I've just purchased an Ebac product (made in the UK) and the cost is the same as an identical Meaco product made in China.
Wow, I hadn't exactly expected to read that Apple was actively involved in trying to improve the plant's conditions. It's still not good that it got that bad in first place, but them having standards for how the workers are treated and housed in their supplier code is probably a lot better than most companies.
A lot of companies have 'standards' on the books, but there's more to it than that. I haven't read the article yet, but sometimes a company will create standards but not actually enforce/check up on them, or worse they'll demand so much from the factories that the standards couldn't be met even if the factories tried
Is it better or worse than the slave labour seen in china tho?
I would say better because this one can get some coverage, and employees could find other jobs. As far as the workers conditions, they’ll only do the bare minimum they can get away with anywhere
Exactly i feel this whole discussionis ignoring the fundamenral ussue that it might be bad but its better than the alternative.
This seems somewhat unique to the Indian plant?
from everything ive seen india appears to be a free for all liberal anarchist state with hindu supremacist characteristics