Apple products include thousands of components that are made by suppliers all around the world. Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla have been named in a lawsuit alleging the exploitation of underage labor in the Democratic Republic of … These protections apply across the supply chain, regardless of a person’s job or location. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, Gretchen Whitmer Removes $220M Meant for Michigan Unemployment Fund From COVID Relief Bill, Washington region records most daily virus deaths since start of the pandemic. Apple Inc. and manufacturing partner Foxconn violated a Chinese labor rule by using too many temporary staff in the world’s largest iPhone factory, the … Hubei is a subsidiary of Dongguan Yidong Electronic, which listed Apple as a customer on its website. Forbes estimates Zhou’s net worth at $15.2 billion, making her the world’s richest self-made woman and putting her just shy of the estate of Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, according to Forbes. One study found that on average, a child who works 6.75 hours a day has 6.42 fewer hours to study. The documents, discovered by the Tech Transparency Project and … One of the oldest and most well-known iPhone suppliers has been accused of using forced Muslim labor in its factories, according to documents uncovered by a human rights group, adding new scrutiny to Apple’s human rights record in China. Researchers say the articles are sometimes taken down before they are discovered by human rights groups. The lobbyists are trying to water down the bill, according to congressional staffers. Apple benefits from forced Uighur labor at its iPhone supplier factories in China, according to an explosive new report Isobel Asher Hamilton 2020-03-02T13:16:49Z Apple on Monday denied most of what is in a report which alleges that the iPhone-maker and its manufacturing partner Foxconn violated Chinese labor law.. China Labor … Amazon spokeswoman Samantha Kruse declined to comment. €5 every 4 weeks or just €50 €20 for the first year, €7 every 4 weeks or just €70 €30 for the first year. O-Film appears on Apple’s supplier list. Any violation of our policies has immediate consequences, including possible business termination. In state media and other official channels, the Chinese government has announced transfers of workers from Xinjiang to factories outside the region, often specifying the specific factories where the laborers are destined to work. Study: Nike, Apple, BMW Among 83 Brands Using Chinese Muslim Slave Labor. Last month, Foxconn … Still it highlights the consequences of unregulated development in the race to bring costs down, as a response to consumer demand for ever cheaper products. An … Apple has discovered multiple cases of child labour in its supply chain, including one Chinese company that employed 74 children under the age of 16, … In response to faxed questions from The Post, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing called forced labor in China “nonexistent” and accused people with “ulterior motives“ of fabricating it. In another alleged propaganda video, posted online in 2019, Uighur workers are seen attending a National Day celebration in front of a red banner that reads “All Workers Sent by the Kashgar Region Human Resources and Social Security Bureau to Lens Tech: Welcome National Day — Sing Red Songs. In recent years, as human rights groups have used the postings as evidence, the government has been posting less material, researchers said. “The cadres have the authority to send people back to Xinjiang, place them in camps,” Byler said. It has also recently spread to India, where Apple has been building up its manufacturing base. Zhou Qunfei, Lens Technology’s founder and CEO, rose to prominence in 2015, when the company she founded from the ground up went public. With its stock more than doubling over the last year, Lens Technology is now worth more than $130 billion. Microsoft may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. In some cases, workers have said that when they “accept” the job, they live in heavily guarded campuses and are rarely allowed to leave. It's tempting to say that child labour in China is an outdated issue, at least when you look at the share of the population affected by the problem.Compared to other countries, it isn't nearly as widespread in China. At least eleven 15-year-old children were discovered to be working last year in three factories, which supply Apple. He said Apple earlier this year ensured that none of its other suppliers are using Uighur labor transferred from Xinjiang. (AFP/Getty Images), Zhou Qunfei, the chairwoman and president of Lens Technology, in 2015. Apple is lobbying against a bill aimed at stopping forced labor in China. In the evenings, when their shifts end, the Uighur workers say they are forced to take lessons in communist propaganda. See our, Read a limited number of articles each month, You consent to the use of cookies and tracking by us and third parties to provide you with personalized ads, Unlimited access to washingtonpost.com on any device, Unlimited access to all Washington Post apps, No on-site advertising or third-party ad tracking. Apple’s longtime supplier accused of using forced labor in China, Employees in the workshop of Lens Technology in 2015 in Liuyang, a city in China’s Hunan province. “There’s really no way to give informed consent in Xinjiang any longer because the threat of extrajudicial detention is so extreme,” said Darren Byler, an anthropologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder who studies Uighur migrants. In February, Uighur workers from Xinjiang destined for a Lens Technology factory were among the first passengers to fly on a chartered flight within China after the pandemic shut down civil aviation, according to an article highlighted in the Tech Transparency Project’s report. She told the New York Times at the time that her big break came in 2003, when Motorola executives called her out of the blue and offered her a chance to supply glass screens for the upcoming Razr V3. Something has to be done about the human-rights abuses in China that appear to include slave/forced labor for the benefit of U.S. companies such as Apple. Uighur workers transferred from Xinjiang to other regions of China are often, if not always, forced or coerced, according to human rights groups and academics who have conducted interviews with people who have escaped the system. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images. Apple has finally come clean and admitted that its biggest manufacturing partner is employing school kids for up to 11 hours a day to make their ultra-expensive iPhone X. A report published Sunday by an Australian think tank revealed that as many as 83 internationally known brands – including Nike, BMW, Apple, Sony, Google, Lacoste, and Nintendo – have active ties to factories where evidence suggests … A March report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute that implicated four Apple suppliers in alleged forced labor transfers relied in part on publicly available documents. Apple publishes an annual progress report documenting its results. An investigative report was published last week by Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), a Hong Kong-based labour rights group. The Australian report also alleged a transfer of Uighur laborers to Foxconn’s “iPhone city,” the largest assembly plant for iPhones. We rely on readers like you to uphold a free press. Corporate giants including Nike face growing calls to cut ties with suppliers alleged to be using "forced labour" from China's Uighur people. 33,705. Apple sailed into fresh controversy on Monday over conditions at its Chinese suppliers’ factories amid allegations of child labour, forced overtime and illegal 66-hour working weeks. A photograph of the Uighur laborers on the plane, wearing masks, shows them holding the “thumbs up” sign, alongside airline staff, who all appear to be Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in the country. It has around 100,000 workers within its 16-company corporate family and it has several factories producing glass for the consumer electronics industry, according to its public filings. According to Human Rights Watch, the Integrated Joint Operations Platform is a database operated by the Chinese government that stores surveillance data and helps authorities determine whether Uighurs should be sent to detention facilities. Some of these labor transfers sent workers to Lens Technology campuses in Hunan, according to an August 2019 article in the Global Times of China. Apple has opened an investigation into claims that high-school students are being forced to help assemble models of Apple Watch at a factory in southwest China. By clicking “I agree” below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. The Chinese government does not permit human rights groups to enter the country to interview laborers or observe conditions. There is a positive correlation between child labor and school drop out rates. But the text of the article uses language that human rights groups say reveals the workers might not be going by choice. 2 Mar 2020 2,967. It said a number of companies had hired auditors to conduct investigations, which “confirmed the nonexistence of ‘forced labor.’“ It did not name the companies. The article says the transfer was arranged by the Xinjiang-Suzhou Chamber of Commerce and was painted as a positive effort to offer jobs to people who are unemployed. Child labor is a growing concern. Apple, among other companies, has dispatched lobbyists to Capitol Hill regarding legislation that would hold U.S. companies accountable for using forced labor from the region, according to Apple’s lobbying disclosure forms. Rosenstock said Lens was one of the audited suppliers. Whether the Uighurs are paid, and exactly how much, is unclear. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. That report detailed labor transfers to factories owned by O-Film, Hubei Yihong Precision Manufacturing and Highbroad Advanced Material, all manufacturers with ties to Apple’s supply chain. The China Southern Arlines flight from Hotan to Hunan was covered by a Chinese news agency focused on the airline industry. (AFP/Getty Images). 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