[LINK] While Apple Is Criticized for Foxconn, Other Companies Are Silent

[Kim Holburn]

N.B.:

> Over the past week I have asked Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Microsoft, Dell, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lenovo about their reports on labor conditions. Many, if not all, of these electronics makers also use Foxconn.


http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/disruptions-on-worker-conditions-apples-rivals-are-silent/

> Disruptions: On Worker Conditions, Apple's Rivals Are Silent
> 
> By NICK BILTON
> | April 8, 2012, 11:00 am 10
> 
> Apple's rivals are quick to say how much better, faster, cheaper or more popular their smartphones, computers and tablets are.
> 
> Yet when it comes to working conditions in the Chinese factories that build these competing products, Apple's electronics rivals go silent.
> 
> In recent months Apple has come under heavy scrutiny for working conditions in the overseas factories it uses, specifically those of Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer.
> 
> Amid criticism that it hadn't been vigilant enough, Apple announced it would employ the Fair Labor Association, an independent auditor, to review the manufacturing plants it uses and publicly identify factories where worker abuses take place.
> 
> Now, Apple is no paragon of open communication. Executives don't speak to the public about labor practices in China. But the company has been publishing reports of the practices of its vendors since 2006. Apple has also shared the names of the 156 suppliers it uses to build its devices. And it has publicly pledged to go "deeper into the supply chain" in its own published audits.
> 
> Over the past week I have asked Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Microsoft, Dell, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lenovo about their reports on labor conditions. Many, if not all, of these electronics makers also use Foxconn.
> 
> Most responded with a boilerplate public relations message. Some didn't even respond. The answer from Barnes & Noble, the maker of the Nook e-reader, was typical. Mary Ellen Keating, a senior vice president, said only, "We don't comment on our supply chain vendors." Ms. Keating wouldn't say why Barnes & Noble does not discuss its manufacturing.
> 
> Lenovo e-mailed an off-topic report on sustainability.
> 
> Samsung, which sells far more cellphones than Apples does, gave no response.
> 
> Although some technology companies share some information about their audits, none go into detail about the violations they find or what they are doing to fix problems.
> 
> "When violations exist, they don't follow up nearly as well as Apple does," said Li Qiang, executive director of China Labor Watch, which monitors and investigates labor conditions in China.
> 
> When I asked these electronics makers why they have chosen not to join the Fair Labor Association, several cited their membership in the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, a consortium of electronics manufacturers that says it sets standards for ethics, labor practices and working conditions.
> 
> Yet the coalition, which was created in 2004, is often criticized by activists as a fig leaf for electronics manufacturers. They say the organization hasn't had any effect on conditions or worker abuses. Realistically, if the consortium were effective in its monitoring, the electronics industry would not be under the scrutiny it is today. No company has ever been asked to leave the coalition for failing to fix worker problems.
> 
> "The companies that are part of the E.I.C.C. have no responsibility to enforce these violations either, and in general it's kind of a public relations ploy," Mr. Qiang said.
> 
> Although Microsoft is not a member of the Fair Labor Association, it does work with the group to perform worker surveys, the company said. Microsoft also says it conducts regular audits of its supplier factories and takes "corrective action" where necessary. Although the reports are made public, they are summarized and are not as detailed as Apple's.
> 
> Amazon declined to comment specifically about the worker conditions in its suppliers' factories, which include Foxconn, but instead pointed to a section of its Web site that mentions audits by a third party. The company does not make the reports public.
> 
> David Frink, a senior public affairs manager at Dell, said the company was assisting Foxconn to "improve the wages and reduce overtime hours" of its factory workers. Foxconn, by the way, has already announced it is doing this.
> 
> A report on Hewlett-Packard's Web site, which was so hidden that it took me several hours to find, details working conditions from 2010 but has not been updated since. In the report, the company notes that more than 51 percent of the factories it works with were in violation of working hour labor laws.
> 
> So why would these electronics makers be so reluctant? They won't tell us, but Mr. Qiang had an idea: "Many companies, like H.P., Sony and Dell, don't publish the full reports because they find violations and problems that are much worse than Apple, and they don't want the media fallout from the reports."
> 
> After Apple joined the Fair Labor Association, the association delivered a report that has been lauded by labor groups. In it, the association found extensive overtime violations, safety problems and workers being cheated out of wages.
> 
> Apple has vowed to fix these problems and press to reduce worker hours, increase pay and limit other violations.
> 
> The makers of tablets and other gadgets want to hold themselves to a higher standard than Apple with the electronics they create. They haven't yet done the same with worker conditions in factories.


-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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