Apple: Underage Workers May Have Built Your iPhone

[DainBramaged]

That iPhone you adore may have been built by a child.

Nearly a dozen underage teens were working for Apple-contracted facilities in 2009, the company has revealed. The news was posted to Apple's Web site under a section labeled "Supplier Responsibility."

Apple's Child Labor Discovery

The underage workers, Apple says, were at three different suppliers' facilities. Though the specific locations aren't disclosed, the report says inspectors visited facilities in China, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States. The factories in question built iPhones, iPods, and various Apple computers.

"Across the three facilities, our auditors found records of 11 workers who had been hired prior to reaching the legal age, although the workers were no longer underage or no longer in active employment at the time of our audit," the report says.

The legal age in the facilities' countries, according to Apple's report, is 16. The workers in question were only 15 when they were hired.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/190384/apple_underage_workers_may_have_built_your_iphone.html


Credit where credit is due......

[OhioChick]

1. Color me surprised....Not. n/t

[stray cat]

2. I hope they were payed a livable wage

[Donnachaidh]

11. ...

:spray: :rofl: :rofl:

livable wage -- now that's a laugh riot....

[rug]

3. No wonder I can't figure it out.

[Enrique]

4. time to rethink our child labor laws

we gotta compete, don't you see! :sarcasm:

[Statistical]

5. We? Apple builds their products in cheap labor markets.

That ipod likely was made in China. A macbook pro is made in Taiwan.

Then just put in a shiny box and sell it in fancy stores in the US (for 30% markup).

[onehandle]

7. Please tell me where you got your computer or phone that was not made in Asia.

I'll let you know where I got my pet unicorn.

[Statistical]

8. I don't but I also don't think they are somehow superior to all the oher China made trash.

The only difference between an mac and a PC MADE IN SAME CHINESE SWEATSHOP is the Mac has a 30% markup while the PC has a 5% one.

[onehandle]

6. Underage workers in overseas factories? Unheard of!

Make that, expected.

Few American companies can guarantee that their products aren't made by kids or slaves. Especially when China is involved.

Your phone, no matter the manufacturer, was build under less than ideal circumstances.

[druidity33]

9. this was an internal audit

and was posted on Apple's website. The workers in question were legal in the countries they were working in (all aged 15 at the time of hiring), and by the time Apple found out (because of their own audit) the workers were no longer employed or past the legal age.

I think it's a good thing they post their internal audits on their website. Shouldn't people be applauding this?

Some people just really like dissing Macs...

What do we know about the child labor practices within Microsoft Corp?


:shrug:

[Touchdown]

10. Yep! That's it. Only ONE company is responsible for all our jobs going to China.

Apple! Not Wal-Mart, not Mattel, not Hasbro, not Levi Strauss, not Dell, not GM, not Kodak, not Ford, not Zenith, not Best Buy, not Microsoft... but Apple and Apple alone!!!!

Apple haters are so predictable.:rofl: