Hong Kong students
protest against working conditions at a plant
in China that produces
the Apple i-Pad on June 8. The effigies are
of workers at the plant who have
committed suicide.
Die Tageszeitung, Germany
Consumers Must Demand Social Justice From Apple
"'A magical, revolutionary product at an unbelievable price' is the slogan that Apple is using to hawk its new tablet computer. The 'unbelievable price,' however, relies on incredibly poor working conditions in Chinese factories ... Consumers must demand social justice from Apple - if necessary with a boycott."
Hong Kong students lambaste Apple CEO Steve Jobs during a protest at the annual general meeting of Foxconn, the company that produces i-Pads in China for Apple, June 8.
“A magical, revolutionary product at an unbelievable price” is the
slogan that Apple is using to hawk its new tablet computer, the i-Pad, which
goes on sale in Germany this Friday. The “unbelievable price,” however, relies
on incredibly poor working conditions in the Chinese factories that Apple and
other computer and cell phone companies use for production.
The issue has been pointed up by a recent series of suicides by
young male and female workers. The irony is that conditions at Apple’s supplier
are no worse than those in other Chinese factories, which no one is really
interested in. But a highly profitable company like Apple cannot be allowed to
just sit back and contentedly watch as their products are manufactured at
China’s minimum wage, which no one who works a normal week in South China could
survive on. Apple and its associates, who depict themselves in their ads as
youthful, dynamic, and innovative, have a social responsibility to shoulder.
Apple promises magic and revolution in its technology, but the company most
certainly doesn't extend these qualities to the social sector. It is at the very
least up consumers to demand justice, from applying pressure to complete
boycotts.
Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US
It is certainly true that in Europe at France Télécom, there has
also been a harrowing series of suicides. So what's happening at Apple i-Pad producer
Foxconn isn't an isolated phenomena. After a recent killing spree at kindergartens,
these suicides are just further evidence of social conflict in a country
undergoing the stress of modernization - and that the exploitation of about 150
million migrant workers has its limits.
Every day, young workers in Shenzhen, who aren't even accorded the
rights of permanent residents in what is a special economic zone, see before
there eyes the incredible accumulation of wealth in China. But they have no
part in it because even after working 70 or more hours a week, they earn less
that the cost of the products they produce. Mindless work under high pressure results
in a lack of social networking, personal isolation, hopelessness, a loss of
perspective - and suicide. Also of consequence is the lack of any real trade
unions or other forms of representation. If China wants to steer clear of a
social catastrophe, it needs a more equitable model of development that doesn’t
burn out its migrant workers.
Consumers must demand social justice from Apple - if necessary
with a boycott.
