Apple workers dying on the job

Whether or not you're an Apple user, it is hard to deny that the brand has revolutionised information technology. Apple is the biggest company in the world, and the millions of people who buy iPhones and iPads make Apple’s investors very rich -- in January they announced a record-breaking 44.1% profit for last quarter and are sitting on $100 billion in cash.

But the success of Apple comes at a terrible cost - shocking details have emerged about the conditions under which iPhones and iPads are manufactured, with a rising count of employees dying from suicide, exhaustion and explosions. [1][2]

Foxconn, Apple's largest supplier, has almost 1 million employees. A typical employee might rise before dawn in a massive dormitory, and work in silence for more than 12 hours a day, six days a week with forced overtime. Deadly explosions rock iPad factories but are easily preventable with proper ventilation, and repetitive motion wears away their joints until they can no longer function. Management have even installed nets around buildings due to the number of suicide attempts and threats.

Apple can do better - a lot better - and the only thing that will make them demand higher working standards from suppliers is public outcry. This Thursday, Apple will hold their shareholders’ Annual General Meeting (AGM) and SumOfUs, a new global movement that campaigns to hold corporations to account, will be there to deliver a petition to the new CEO. Let's add our voices to the global call for reform - sign the petition now.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/workers-rights/apple/sign-the-petition

Working conditions are terrible for the people who make, by hand, each and every gadget Apple sells. In extreme cases, people are literally dying while doing their jobs. Reporters have documented cases of deadly explosions at iPad factories, and instances of workers dying of exhaustion after working thirty-plus hour shifts.

Apple knows this is going on, and according to an anonymous Apple executive quoted in the New York Times “[s]uppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.” But Apple hasn't demanded better treatment of their workers because they believe that "customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China".[3]

Australia's smartphone market is a tight competition between iPhone and Android phones - what Australians think about Apple matters to them.[4] This Thursday, as the world watches Apple and its top executives and shareholders, corporate campaigning organisation SumOfUs will present petition signatures gathered from all over the world demanding safe working conditions for Apple employees. It’s now up to our Australian movement to keep the pressure on Apple and let them know Australians care about the lives of workers - wherever they are.

Safe working conditions and workers' rights shouldn't be a choice. Sign the petition calling on Apple to make the next iPhone its first ethically made product:

http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/workers-rights/apple/sign-the-petition

Apple is known for demanding the highest quality products. They should also demand the highest quality working conditions for those who make their products.

Thanks for all that you do,
The GetUp team.

PS - At this Thursday's AGM Apple will celebrate its most successful year yet. If we join with the growing international movement calling for reform, led by SumOfUs, we can make it the day Apple celebrates not only their profits but doing the right thing for their workers. Sign the petition asking Apple not to put profits before the lives of people who make their products: http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/workers-rights/apple/sign-the-petition

[1] 'Foxconn Worker Dies in the Bath After Working 60 Hours a Week', MIC gadget, 30/06/2011
[2] 'In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad', New York Times, 25/01/2012
[3] Ibid.
[4] 'Apple and Android in smartphone photo finish', Sydney Morning Herald, 21/12/2011