|
I don't know if Apple is one of the more progressive companies in China but I would put solid money betting that what Apple is doing, other companies are doing.
Just like it wasn't just Nike that had their shoes made in awful factories or Nestle using slave labor for chocolate. Or one particular textile factory in the 1800 using small children due to the size of their hands.
Abuse of factory workers is an age old problem (feudalism wasn't pleasant for the vast majority of the population and was essentially an agriculture factory) and one that is not going to go away until consumers change their behavior.
The companies Amazon, Sony, Apple, Dell all want to make as much profit as possible. They will cut corners, pay crap wages, ask workers to work long hours with no over time, and then claim that they are shocked, shocked I tell you, that the workers are treated so poorly and they will work on changing that right away.
Yeah right. It is all a giant PR stunt. Little changes. And when it does change, the companies move their factories else where. Remember the textiles first left the US for Mexico. Mexico finally started to crack down on labor practices and those factories left for other South American countries and then eventually Asia. It is cheaper to do business in countries that do not protect the wages and rights of the worker.
I am as guilty of buying this stuff as anyone. I am typing on a keyboard attached to a computer made in China. My e-reader was made in China. My sneakers were made in the US and I try and buy organic chocolate but that is about all I can say I actively contribute.
Is it right? Hell no. Do I think things should change? Hell yes. Do I think Apple or any other mega corporation is going to do anything about it because it is the right thing to do? Hell no.
|