 | Home > Off Topic > Apple Broken Promises |
 
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8582  
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Anyone watching Apples Broken Promises on BBc1 now?
Brendan |
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18th Dec 2014 9:32pm |
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| CatherineF Member Since: 22 Nov 2014 Location: Wiltshire Posts: 762
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Looked quite interesting but decided to watch the millie awards instead.
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18th Dec 2014 9:36pm |
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| mick Member Since: 08 Feb 2010 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 2109  
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Watching the Mill awards saw some of it on the news reckon they will all be the same
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18th Dec 2014 9:46pm |
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| Venomator Member Since: 25 Aug 2014 Location: Peterborough Posts: 2087
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Yes!
Rog... 
The GREEN One... MY2016 Urban Truck Build Thread - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic40548....al[/color] |
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18th Dec 2014 9:51pm |
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| steventheplumber Member Since: 29 Apr 2014 Location: Lincolnshire Posts: 767 
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such a difference between the armed forces and the so called celebs |
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19th Dec 2014 5:36pm |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8582
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Apple might be able to influence workers hours and sleeping arrangements but can it ensure no illegally mined tin enters its supply chain?
Somehow I doubt it. Can UK supermarkets ensure no illegally mined tin is used by the likes of Heinz in their tin cans. Can your local plumber guarantee that no illegally mined tin is in the solder he uses when installing/repairing your central heating system? Brendan |
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19th Dec 2014 10:25pm |
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| steventheplumber Member Since: 29 Apr 2014 Location: Lincolnshire Posts: 767
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20th Dec 2014 8:05am |
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| Venomator Member Since: 25 Aug 2014 Location: Peterborough Posts: 2087
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Courtesy of Today's iPhone Blog:
Apple has responded to labor abuse allegations following a BBC Panorama investigation that claimed the company failed to protect Chinese factory workers. Jeff Williams, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Operations, stated that he and CEO Tim Cook were “deeply offended” by the accusations in an internal email obtained by The Telegraph. The BBC documentary — that aired last night one BBC One in the UK and is now available through the BBC’s iPlayer service (UK only) — and accompanying report, sent several undercover workers into Apple’s supply chain and found that Pegatron’s Shanghai factory routinely breached working standards. Workers reportedly often worked over 60-hour working weeks, including exhausting 12 to 16 hour shifts, lived in cramped dorms, with some working up to 18 days in a row despite requests for time off. The BBC investigation also reported that tin from an illegal mine in Indonesia may be making its way into Apple’s supply chain and that some of the tin mines employ child laborers and offer unsafe working conditions. Pegatron responded to the BBC’s investigations, stating “worker safety and well-being are our top priorities. We set very high standards, conduct rigorous training for managers and workers, and have external auditors regularly visiting our facilities to find areas for improvement.” The company will also investigate the claims fully and take corrective action if necessary. Apple has not remained quiet on the matter, either. In an email to the the UK team, Williams contests the BBC’s claims arguing that the BBC implies “that Apple isn’t improving working conditions. Let me tell you, nothing could be further from the truth” and that the company is doing more than any other to improve conditions in its supply chain. The exec went on to say that Apple provided the BBC with “facts and perspective” regarding its efforts to improve working conditions, but that this input was “clearly missing from their programme.” You can read the full email below: UK Team, As you know, Apple is dedicated to the advancement of human rights and equality around the world. We are honest about the challenges we face and we work hard to make sure that people who make our products are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. Last night, the BBC’s Panorama program called those values into question. Like many of you, Tim and I were deeply offended by the suggestion that Apple would break a promise to the workers in our supply chain or mislead our customers in any way. I’d like to give you facts and perspective, all of which we shared with the BBC in advance, but were clearly missing from their program. Panorama showed some of the shocking conditions around tin mining in Indonesia. Apple has publicly stated that tin from Indonesia ends up in our products, and some of that tin likely comes from illegal mines. Here are the facts: Tens of thousands of artisanal miners are selling tin through many middlemen to the smelters who supply to component suppliers who sell to the world. The government is not addressing the issue, and there is widespread corruption in the undeveloped supply chain. Our team visited the same parts of Indonesia visited by the BBC, and of course we are appalled by what’s going on there. Apple has two choices: We could make sure all of our suppliers buy tin from smelters outside of Indonesia, which would probably be the easiest thing for us to do and would certainly shield us from criticism. But it would be the lazy and cowardly path, because it would do nothing to improve the situation for Indonesian workers or the environment since Apple consumes a tiny fraction of the tin mined there. We chose the second path, which is to stay engaged and try to drive a collective solution. We spearheaded the creation of an Indonesian Tin Working Group with other technology companies. Apple is pushing to find and implement a system that holds smelters accountable so we can influence artisanal mining in Indonesia. It could be an approach such as “bagging and tagging” legally mined material, which has been successful over time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We are looking to drive similar results in Indonesia, which is the right thing to do. Panorama also made claims about our commitment to working conditions in our factories. We know of no other company doing as much as Apple does to ensure fair and safe working conditions, to discover and investigate problems, to fix and follow through when issues arise, and to provide transparency into the operations of our suppliers. I want you to know that more than 1400 of your Apple coworkers are stationed in China to manage our manufacturing operations. They are in the factories constantly — talented engineers and managers who are also compassionate people, trained to speak up when they see safety risks or mistreatment. We also have a team of experts dedicated solely to driving compliance with our Supplier Code of Conduct across our vast supply chain. In 2014 alone, our Supplier Responsibility team completed 630 comprehensive, in-person audits deep into our supply chain. These audits include face-to-face interviews with workers, away from their managers, in their native language. Sometimes critics point to the discovery of problems as evidence that the process isn’t working. The reality is that we find violations in every audit we have ever performed, no matter how sophisticated the company we’re auditing. We find problems, we drive improvement, and then we raise the bar. Panorama’s report implied that Apple isn’t improving working conditions. Let me tell you, nothing could be further from the truth. Here are just a few examples: Several years ago, the vast majority of workers in our supply chain worked in excess of 60 hours, and 70+ hour workweeks were typical. After years of slow progress and industry excuses, Apple decided to attack the problem by tracking the weekly hours of over one million workers, driving corrective actions with our suppliers and publishing the results on our website monthly — something no other company had ever done. It takes substantial effort, and we have to weed out false reporting, but it’s working. This year, our suppliers have achieved an average of 93% compliance with our 60-hour limit. We can still do better. And we will. Our auditors were the first to identify and crack down on a ring of unscrupulous labor brokers who were holding workers’ passports and forcing them to pay exorbitant fees. To date, we have helped workers recoup $20 million in excessive payments like these. We’ve gone far beyond auditing and corrective actions by creating educational programs for workers in the same facilities where they make our products. More than 750,000 people have taken advantage of these college-level courses and enrichment programs, and the feedback we get from students is inspiring. I will not dive into every issue raised by Panorama in this note, but you can rest assured that we take all allegations seriously, and we investigate every claim. We know there are a lot of issues out there, and our work is never done. We will not rest until every person in our supply chain is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. If you’d like to learn more about our Supplier Responsibility program, I encourage you and our customers to visit our website at apple.com/supplierresponsibility. Thanks for your time and your support. Jeff Rog...
The GREEN One... MY2016 Urban Truck Build Thread - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic40548....al[/color] |
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20th Dec 2014 9:10am |
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| davew Member Since: 02 Jan 2012 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 888 
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I didn't watch it, mainly because I had a suspicion I'd find it an annoying "hatchet job", doesn't sound as if I'm too far off the mark. Like most of the BBC "investigations" I've talked to their "researchers" about, the researchers are only ever interested in proving the premise of a story and never interested in actual facts that might make the story less headline grabbing.
It seems Apple's mistake was trying to do something to improve the conditions of people working under a repressive dictatorship. Had Apple, like nearly all companies dealing with Chinese manufacturers, not made a public statement that they would try and improve things the BBC wouldn't have had grounds to attack them for not meeting their aims 100% or, as the BBC would have it, "broken promises". I guess the BBC would prefer it if Apple said "screw them, it's their governments problem" but then a report on the regime(s) that are ultimately responsible for the working conditions of their subjects/citizens/minions would probably end up on the proverbial cutting room floor for fear of upsetting our "trading partners". It's an uneasy fact that the very thing that makes China and similar countries a manufacturing powerhouse is that their "workforce" is underpaid and overworked and that is the very thing that makes them competitive. Perhaps Panorama would be better off turning their investigations towards UK citizens/subjects, perhaps investigating the shadowy figure in London who gets a small gang of wannabe con artists together then sends them out each week to try and dupe the public into buying rubbish products for more than they are worth. This is then shown on BBC television with the con artists described as "entrepreneurs" which, apparently, makes it OK to leave any ethics you may have had at the door and go out there and con people. The con artist who then fails to deliver the most profit from the gullible public is exiled and forced to walk alone for all time with only a small wheeled bag for company whilst chanting the mantra "I'll show him how good a con artist I can really be, just you wait and see" and "my business plan rocked, they have no idea". http://www.yorkshireoffroadclub.net/ |
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20th Dec 2014 12:10pm |
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| JJ Member Since: 18 May 2009 Location: Winchester Posts: 932 
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I am no fan of Apple as a company with their "Emperors new clothes" style of marketing their products for hugely inflated prices but on the other hand I am no fan of that style of tabloid gutter sensationalist journalism. It certainly has no place on the BBC .
I choose not to buy a newspaper but I can't choose not to fund the BBC so I expect higher standards than that rubbish dressed up as serious investigation. |
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20th Dec 2014 12:19pm |
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| Fatboy Slim Member Since: 04 Feb 2008 Location: Bridgend Posts: 1006 
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Poor dabs working 12 to 16 hour shifts..........oh hold on I do that as well!! In the lashing rain 6 or 7 days a week up to my nuts in mud......
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20th Dec 2014 2:27pm |
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| martinfiattech Member Since: 13 Nov 2013 Location: leicester Posts: 422
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Not so long ago the working conditions in this very country were the same. It`s the price of progress and greed.
We will risk ourselves and our only planet for money or a new toy. When mankind wakes and realises he has nothing left it will be to late. Excuse the spelling I`am better with spanners and wires. |
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20th Dec 2014 7:40pm |
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| Knot-yet Member Since: 21 Nov 2013 Location: N. Lincs Posts: 39
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I watched this on TV too, and likewise wasn't impressed by the level of journalism. Seemed to sensationalist to me, which is precisely what the BBC shouldn't be. It should report the unbiased facts!
I've had experience of (shipyard) working conditions in China, and it is true that in general these are not as good as conditions in the UK and Europe, but to be brutally honest these things are relative. Ok so Apple may not have fulfilled their promises, but at least they made them and tried. There are plenty of other employers who don't care, and don't try. As far as my own job is concerned, well here goes..... I'm at work for 24hours a day, and work 3month shifts!!! And have to work in sometimes very difficult conditions, with the eVer present risk of fire, sinking or death or serious injury! I have to work with what can be dangerous machinery, often while suffering from fatigue, thousands of miles away from home. I have to be away from home and work on birthdays, Christmases and public holidays. I have to maintain said machinery to a high standard on an increasingly limited budget to increasingly high higher standards. I have to be alert and prepared to deal with an emergency situation. I have to live in what are similar to prison conditions, with limited access to luxuries and the outside world and a strictly regulated working routine. I have to deal with often corrupt foreign officialdom, with the power to arrest, detain, prosecute and deport and imprison. I have to survive on my own wits. I've seen colleagues killed, colleagues kidnapped and colleagues suffer break downs. I've been shot at too. I've been detained at gunpoint several times. I risk loosing my job to people prepared to do what I do but for less money in the ever present race to the bottom line. So here's an open invitation for the bloody bbc panorama to come and investigate my place of work! |
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22nd Dec 2014 9:46pm |
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| jomara Member Since: 26 Oct 2009 Location: Lanarkshire Posts: 1790  
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Well said
That Panorama program had to be some of the worst journalism I've come across that hasn't originated within the Murdoch empire!! I think it's high time we looked at the increasing demands on our own workforce and the ever increasing legislation and hidden taxation that are pushing small companies out of business on a daily basis! There are a lot of people out there doing hard, dirty and dangerous jobs who don't receive tyre recognition due to them!! 2014 110 2.2TDCi XS Station wagon 1971 Bowler Tomcat 88 4.2 V8 Auto 2022 110 D250 XS Edition - Gone 2024 110 D250 X-Dynamic HSE |
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22nd Dec 2014 9:52pm |
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