Apple's Chinese Factories Improved Working Conditions

         I found an article in the business insider called "How Apple is Making Sure It's Overseas Workers Are Treated Fairly" that talks about what Apple has done now to actually help fix the problem in the system that allowed for workers to work in many unsafe and unlawful work environments. I dug deeper into this issue to see exactly what had been happening.
        For a while Apple was violating many laws that govern what should and should not be allowed to occur in factories. More specifically, one of their largest violations was people working unbelievable hours overtime. They also found a 15 year old boy dead at a factory. Many suicides and attempted suicides were known to have occurred at the factory, mostly due to the number of hours being worked. Apple had stated that if their suppliers wanted to continue to do business wit them they would have to keep up with the standards. While they were under review in December, most of the plants kept working hours within the industry low which is about 50 to 60 hours per week. (China's legal limit is 49.)
      Personally, I think that the numbers recorded in the various Foxconn factory locations by the FLA (Federal Labor Association) were OK for aw review period. I believe that the numbers showed during a review period in a factory known to have poor employee work environment will most likely be false, especially after the supplier has been bad mouthed for its conditions over an extended period of time and not made any notable changes during studies up until this point in December. It could go either way: if all they did was cut hours to try to adapt the situation, they might be able To keep them relatively low, but probably not as low as what was found during the review period, which still wasn't in its legal limits.
      While these Apple factories are taking some steps to improve conditions, There are still other problems brought up in the article that will definitely need to be addressed. "China Labor Watch, a non-profit group that monitors Chinese factories, said in a recent report that it uncovered a wide range of violations during an examination of factories in Shanghai and Suzhou run by Apple contractor Pegatron Corp. The problems included sexual discrimination, excessive working hours, poor living conditions and pollution." (Associated Press). 
      In the Business Insider, I found that Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, reported that Apple has been providing education at its factories after the December report. It is comparable to Apple University, reportedly. This is huge. It is one step closer to everyone receiving some kind of education through work. I believe that if they can do this after what it was, any company can. It will be interesting to see reactions on the large scale, and if other suppliers try to emulate it, whether they are forced to by regulation or they have some type of epiphany. ***Standardization! yay!!!*** Time will tell, but my best advice for the average consumer is to purchase wisely! There is a list of sweatshop-free products of all types that can be found online. Each purchase counts, so does sharing accurate information. (I was inspired by this topic because I was head of a club in high school that actively educated people and wrote to sweatshops asking to improve working conditions.)



http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/apple-s-chinese-factories-improved-working-conditions-1.2461718
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-supply-chain-foxconn-workers-rights-2014-9