Neil Hughes
The number of instances discovered at Apple's suppliers were greatly improved in 2011, even as Apple significantly ramped up its number of audits. In all, 229 audits were conducted throughout the supply chain in 2011, an 80 percent increase from 2010.
Those audits discovered six active and 13 historical cases of underage labor at five facilities. In each case, Apple said, the facility had insufficient controls to verify the worker's age, or to detect false documentation.
In those cases, Apple required that the suppliers support the young workers' return to school. The iPhone maker also worked with suppliers to improve their management systems, like recruitment practices and age verification procedures, to prevent future instances of underage labor.
"We have a zero-tolerance policy for underage labor, and we believe our system is the toughest in the electronics industry," Apple said in highlights from the report. "In 2011, we broadened our age verification program and saw dramatic improvements in hiring practices by our suppliers. Cases of underage labor were down significantly, and our audits found no underage workers at our final assembly suppliers."
For comparison, last year's annual report found 49 underage workers at 9 facilities overseas. One of the facilities was responsible for most of the child labor instances, with 42 underage workers.
Upon discovering those violations in 2010, Apple required the supplier to support the workers' return to school. It also terminated business with the offending facility.
The latest 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, which is now available for download from Apple, includes the details of more than 100 first-time audits.
"We continue to expand our program to reach deeper into our supply base, and this year we added more detailed and specialized audits that focus on safety and the environment," Apple's summary reads.
The audits included detailed reviews at 14 facilities conducted by third-party environmental engineering experts. Those environmental were in addition to the standard audits Apple has conducted for years now.
Apple also noted that the company continues to offer education opportunities at suppliers' facilities free of charge. More than 60,000 workers have taken advantage of this and enrolled in classes.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
Amber Neely
32 Comments
China is trying to make up for 100 years of industrialization in the West. Labor abuse is bound to come up on that road. The industrialized nations have been through it before. Really, though, the Chinese government should enforce these policies, not make it te responsibility of foreign firms like Apple. I get the impression that child labor is a bigger deal to the West than it is to the Chinese. Is that the case?
I think the key word in the title of this article is "intentional". Like it's ok then right?
I think the key word in the title of this article is "intentional". Like it's ok then right?
? Uh, no. The implication there is that if any was found, it wasn't on purpose and was summarily dealt with.
? Uh, no. The implication there is that if any was found, it wasn't on purpose and was summarily dealt with.
same lines with force prostitution
Since under age seems to be defined as under 16 years (I checked one of the reports), I'd like to know how many of these have families or would drop out anyways from school. It's not worthwhile for everyone to finish high school. Some people can make a living without a high school education. And I've met a few 16 year olds who were married with kids and supporting thier family with a construction job - one was a tile flooring installer, making good money. Yeah, I was shocked when he told me had a wife and 2 kids at his age, but if he's happy and contributing to society, who am I to judge. And this was in Canada.
I'd be more concerned with kids under the age of 14.