Tim Cook 'Deeply Offended' by BBC Documentary on Apple Factory Conditions
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he is deeply offended by allegations that Apple permits the mistreatment of workers in its supplier factories and mines, reports The Telegraph. The accusations were levied by the BBC news program Panorama, which sent undercover reporters to work in Chinese factories and Indonesian mines. The BBC aired the documentary titled "Apple's Broken Promises" last night on its BBC One channel.
Apple senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams relayed Tim Cook's message in an email sent to its UK staff. Cook and Williams both stated they 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."
"Panorama’s report implied that Apple isn’t improving working conditions," he continued. "Let me tell you, nothing could be further from the truth."
Williams also implied in the email that Apple provided the BBC with pertinent facts regarding the company's commitment to its workers worldwide, but that information was not included in the documentary.
The BBC report claims that Chinese workers were forced to work long hours assembling Apple devices and denied requests for a day off, even after working 18 days in a row. The BBC also uncovered issues with off-hour work meetings, underage workers and other violations with dormitories and ID cards.
The BBC also investigated tin mines in Indonesia, where it found children mining the ore in dangerous conditions. The BBC claims this tin makes its way into Apple's supply chain without the company's knowledge.
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Top Rated Comments
People that say things like this don't care about the truth, they only care about slamming Apple. Apple is doing the most of any company, and openly addressing the issues. All other companies are mum about this, and the media doesn't attack any other manufacturer with the venom they attack Apple. The reason is clear - say 'Samsung employees have poor working conditions', people go.... so? next story. But say it about Apple, and people read the article and are all over it.
The difference is Apple is one of the very few companies doing something about it.
Edit: here's the official email:
Tim would've earned a lot of respect from me if he had instead said, "You know what, you're right. We're appalled by this too and we're going to get serious about this issue." He would've even earned a little respect if he had said, "You know what? It's not our problem, and we won't be so in-your-face about saying how ethical we are over the rest of the industry." Instead, he took the predictable path of corporate denial.
Fail. :apple:
Anyone who follows the industry knows how seriously Apple take their responsibility for supply chain workers. I hope that Tim Cook responds directly to this and puts the record straight because, unfortunately, there are too many people who will just take all this nonsense as fact and assume the worst.
As a consumer, what annoys me is that, when paying a premium for a product, I'd like to think that the extra cash works its way down the line so that people are better paid (both within Apple and outside of it), materials are ethically sourced etc.
If I was paying £200 for a laptop, I wouldn't be surprised that workers were underpaid, the unit was badly made, the materials purchased from companies that also pay their workers badly etc. (which is why I don't buy cheap goods)
But Apple are amongst, or even the, most expensive computers and gadgets out there. It's such a shame that even paying through the nose for your computer doesn't guarantee an ehtical machine is what you recieve.