Workers putting together Apple’s latest iPhone in one of Foxconn’s plants in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China still face “deplorably harsh working conditions” according to a new report published today.
The 10-page report entitled “New iPhone, old abuses,” by the Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), claims that workers at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou facility are still being forced to work overtime and experiencing numerous working violations.
The report, like others the group has put out in the past, is based on offsite interviews with workers at Foxconn factories. This time it’s 60 workers from Zhengzhou during the first week of September 2012.
Listed among the chief findings is excessive overtime that adds “between 80-100 hours” a month of overtime (some of which is not paid, the report says); subcontracted workers that may not have insurance; difficulty striking or organizing a union; frequent contact with strong chemicals; and relocation to other Foxconn facilities without knowledge of when they can return to their original location.
CNET, “Watchdog Group Once Again Blasts Foxconn, Apple Over Labor.”
Cue fellow bloggers wondering why I’m posting this on a day when every single media outlet is offering wall-to-wall coverage of people standing in line for a $200-and-up toy instead.
