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Earlier this week, Apple pledged to let the Fair Labor Association access its suppliers’ facilities to monitor working conditions. Even though Apple is the first technology company admitted to the FLA, the snowballing issue of harsh conditions at Far East plants will not go away with the announcement. Quite the contrary, the problem has escalated and gone mainstream, with both The Daily Show and This American Life focusing on the grim reality of earning a living at Foxconn-operated sweatshops in China.

Jon Stewart, The Daily Show host and chief satirist, remarked in an episode yesterday:

The radio show was dedicated to Mike Daisey’s highly acclaimed show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs.” Daisy recently exposed the inhumane working conditions at Foxconn’s Shenzhen, China factory. Part of his monologue was adapted for the radio, telling a brutal tale of what life is like at the Foxconn sweatshops. According to a brief synopsis over at the This America Life show’s website, the producers fact-checked Daisey’s claims and added a broader context to his findings:

Apple in its 2012 Supplier Responsibility Report stated it found 42 manufacturing facilities that delayed wages. Some 68 facilities did not provide proper benefits and 67 facilities held back payments as punishment. In addition, 108 facilities failed to pay legal requirements for overtime and holiday pay, five facilities were exposed with six active cases of underage labor. More than 200 audits Apple performed at their suppliers’ facilities around the world found 93 facilities that currently have more than 50 percent of its staff exceeding the maximum 60-hour workweek set by Apple’s Code of Conduct for suppliers. At 90 facilities, more than half of the records indicated that workers had worked more than 6 consecutive days at least once per month, and 37 facilities lacked an adequate working day control system to ensure that workers took at least 1 day off in every 7 days.

  • Pegatron and Foxconn reportedly begin assembly of iPad 3 with Sharp display, launching in early-March (9to5mac.com)
  • Apple’s cheaper iPhone 4 (N90A) pops up at Foxconn Brazil (9to5mac.com)