Chinese Labor Group Alleges Poor Working Conditions at Apple Supplier Pegatron

pegatron_logo_smallAs reported by the Wall Street Journal, a Chinese worker’s rights group has brought forth allegations of poor working conditions at Pegatron, a primary supplier to Apple and longtime electronics manufacturing company. Specifically, the worker group accuses that the company has made numerous safety and workplace violations, including the unethical holding of worker pay and identification cards, as well as poor living conditions within the factory including tight living quarters and packed cafeterias.

Apple has replied to the allegations, stating the following:

Apple is committed to providing safe and fair working conditions throughout our supply chain. We lead the industry with far-reaching and specialized audits, the most transparent reporting and educational programs that enrich the lives of workers who make our products. Apple is the first and only technology company to be admitted to the Fair Labor Association, and we are dedicated to protecting every worker in our supply chain.

As a part of our extensive Supplier Responsibility program, Apple has conducted 15 comprehensive audits at Pegatron facilities since 2007, covering more than 130,000 workers making Apple products including annual audits of Pegatron’s final assembly locations and surprise audits at both RiTeng and AVY within the past 18 months.

Additionally, we have closely tracked working hours at all of these facilities. Our most recent survey in June found that Pegatron employees making Apple products worked 46 hours per week on average. Excessive overtime is not in anyone’s best interest, and we work closely with our suppliers to prevent it. Apple surveys working hours for more than 1 million employees across our supply chain each month and we report the findings on our website.

Apple also confirmed that various labor brokers affiliated with Pegatron were withholding ID cards, and further committed to investigating claims against the company. Analysts estimate that Pegatron’s Pudong district factory now produces one-third of the world’s iPhone and iPads, with the company as a whole expanding its overall workforce from 50,000 workers in March to 70,000 presently.

The news comes after Apple announced last week that it was forming an academic advisory board for its Supplier Responsibility program, saying that it wanted to ensure “safe and ethical working conditions wherever its products are made.” Apple has also published Supplier Responsibility Progress Reports every year since 2007, tracking the ethical progress of its suppliers in order to bring transparency to its product manufacturing process.

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 18.5 to Developers

Wednesday April 2, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming just two days after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. We don't yet know what Apple is introducing in the iOS 18.5...

Top Rated Comments

Intarweb Avatar
153 months ago
I wonder if Shockwave is behind this. He's always wanted to get rid of Megatron.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
linuxcooldude Avatar
153 months ago
Apple can come up with any crappy excuses and long letters trying to justify themselves.
The truth is they don't give a damn! All they care about is the margins: as long as the Chinese floks work for $2 per hour, they are happy!

Its up to Pegatron & the Chinese government to fix their own mess and not rely on another country to do it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nascimento Avatar
153 months ago
When you continuously play off your suppliers and manufacturers to get the absolute lowest price above all else this is always going to happen.

Apple should build their own factories and show what can be achieved.

It's a shame that we no longer seem to have any large companies who believe in social responsibility and the welfare of their workers. It all seems to come down to squeezing the last penny of profit out of everything they do.
Typical new age anglo hypocritical theoretic.

Shaun they squeeze every penny so that you can buy a cheap TV, computer, Iphone, boiler, fridge, cooker and so that you may retain the quality of life you have in the UK. That includes all the welfare, NHS, subsidies, etc.

If you are a vegan and live off the land ,use no electronics or the NHS then I take back what I said!...and appologise
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
153 months ago
It's good that this is being brought to public attention and that Apple are trying to do something about this. Let's hope other manufacturers such as HP and DELL do their own internal investigations in these factories.

Shame other computer companies can copy Apple's laptops, but not their ethics ;)

Yes, I'm aware Apple aren't perfect either, please take what I said with a pinch of sodium chloride
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iapplelove Avatar
153 months ago
Makes me appreciate the working conditions at my job just a little but more
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
153 months ago
No I read it. I just question you leaving the comment in there when you have no idea of the veracity. "Disclaimer" or not.

Sort of like telling someone you don't meant to offend them when you tell them they are stupid or ugly :)

The words are already out there.
Oh. Well for what it's worth, I do get that a lot.

Not my comments being called out ... more people saying to me "No offense, but you are ugly" :(

Heh heh, sorry for jumping the gun on that one. ;) I'll try to be a little less edgy in future. :D
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)