Apple 'failing to protect Chinese workers'

[Cleoriff]

This just released by the BBC...

It will be interesting to watch the Panorama programme tonight...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30532463

[Beenherebefore]

You need to appreciate and accept that most products sold in the developed countries that have been produced in an Asian country have an element of exploitation in their production.....and that's our fault and responsibility for demanding products at a certain price.

[Cleoriff]

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@Beenherebefore wrote:

You need to appreciate and accept that most products sold in the developed countries that have been produced in an Asian country have an element of exploitation in their production.....and that's our fault and responsibility for demanding products at a certain price.

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Agree with that overall. What I never will agree with, is that Apple, due to this type of exploitation, are sitting on $155 billion in the bank.

The Panorama programme was based on the fact they made promises 3 years ago. Yet again they have broken their promises ....and every rule in the book in my opinion.

I have no doubt other companies are guilty of all sorts of misconduct and malpractice. I can only comment on Apple tonight...as that was the one I watched

[nevzy31]

Remember when Apple launched a product not sure which and the game showcased was vain glory produced by super evil megacorp coincidence I think not

[viridis]

Watched this.
It delivered exactly what it promised.
A disgusting portrayal of merciless labour camps.
I felt the same western shame and horror as when I first learnt about "the foxconn nets"

[Cleoriff]

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@viridis wrote:

I felt the same western shame and horror as when I first learnt about "the foxconn nets"

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The *nets* Foxconn added to catch suicidal people when they jumped. Looked good when they reduced the number of suicides...

[Beenherebefore]

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Cleoriff wrote:Apple, due to this type of exploitation, are sitting on $155 billion in the bank.

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You would be shocked if you knew how many multinationals were cash rich and you would be devastated if you knew the extent of exactly how much cash those companies held in accounts and investments.

World poverty need not exist 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks to @Cleoriff for drawing attention to this most interesting, and challenging, topic.  I have not yet seen the programme in question but hope that I can catch it on BBC iplayer.

In the meantime, and amidst all the hand wringing and righteous indignation, I think it should be remembered that we must not simply put all the "blame" on "multi-national" and other large companies.  They, after all, exist not as charitable institutions but as profit makers for their investors. I wonder how many UK pensioners are deriving at least part of their income from money invested in multi-nationals by "Pension Funds".   And of course multi-nationals do pay taxes (perhaps not as much as they could and should were it not for creative accountancy) - so as a nation we ALL benefit to some extent from the "exploitation" of the workers most directly responsible for wealth creation.  Finally, let us not forget that part of the reason(s) why these jobs exist in foreign and under-developed regions is the greed of "western" work forces aided and abetted by their Trades Unions who priced local workers out of so many markets.  Just look at the  demise of manufacturing in the Uk over the past 50 years.

So, it is a big, big topic - and solutions will be hard to find - but we are none of us without "blame" if that is an appropriate reaction.   Some of you may be familiar with the Fair Trade business - it is growing, but next time you are in your local supermarket do a wee test and see how easy it is to find Fair Trade goods and observe for a while how many customers they attract as against those who choose cheaper alternatives.  We all love a "bargain" and let's be honest we do not spend a lot of time worrying about the lives of those who are directly involved in the manufacture, transport, storage, wholesaling and retailing

 of the products we just love to have!  We are also quite adept at rationalising our own reasons for paying the smallest amount we can for whatever we desire.

[Anonymous]

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@Beenherebefore wrote:

You need to appreciate and accept that most products sold in the developed countries that have been produced in an Asian country have an element of exploitation in their production.....and that's our fault and responsibility for demanding products at a certain price.

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spot on Beenherebefore ..... I'm as guilty of this as anyone else at trying to make the most out of my money ..... eg do you remember the concrete block workplace, I believe in Pakistan/Bangladesh ..... it collapsed ..... there were bars at the windows ..... the workers could not get out alive ..... several High Street brands of clothing came clean & said they used if not that particular work place then other similar ones ..... I am posting this from memory ..... one particular company I buy from online, the one which has Joe Brown's clothes stocked in a full range of designs & sizes ..... & generally not fuddy-duddy clothes for the mature woman like me ..... but I have to say it hasn't stopped me from still buying from my regular online shops = bad

I come from broad West Yorkshire ..... think sheep's woollen mills ..... Leeds for tailoring ..... Lancashire cotton mills (the damp weather so's the threads dont break) ..... not to mention heavy engineering (Leeds) ..... cheaper to make & ship products from abroad to GB ..... the coal mines = non-existent in West Yorkshire now ..... = ..... now imported coal from Poland ..... delivered by ship to some port in Scotland ..... carted in a southerly direction in heavy goods wagons on the train down the pretty Settle Carlisle line part of the way ..... don't let the very likeable Michael Portillo fool you into thinking it was he as Transport Minister att going up against Mad Maggie that kept that railway line open

sorry = rant over ..... gone slightly off-topic ..... but the decline of British manufacturing industry is due to using slave labour in far Asia so's we in can get what we want at a cheap price

WispaRed7 

[jonsie]

I've seen poverty at its worst here and people working long hours for peanuts. We have it easy in the uk whether we realise it or not. These people have no social benefit or NHS and are forced to accept any work they can. Proud people who are prey to the hidden faceless companies making huge profits from slave labour knowing that people in the West are clamouring for their products. 

Will I ever change?....no, not in our lifetime.

[Cleoriff]

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@jonsie wrote:

I've seen poverty at its worst here and people working long hours for peanuts. We have it easy in the uk whether we realise it or not. These people have no social benefit or NHS and are forced to accept any work they can. Proud people who are prey to the hidden faceless companies making huge profits from slave labour knowing that people in the West are clamouring for their products. 

Will I ever change?....no, not in our lifetime.

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Sadly true @jonsie  Its ok having a conscience and boycotting products....but until more people act together about issues.... we are just very small pebbles causing hardly a ripple