“Apple Computer Inc. said Wednesday it was working to resolve a dispute over alleged labor abuses by an iPod manufacturer in China,” Elaine Kurtenbach repots for The Associated Press.
“Hongfujin Precision Industry Co., a major exporter owned by a Taiwanese company, filed a defamation lawsuit against two journalists at the state-run newspaper China Business News over stories alleging that workers on iPod assembly lines worked under harsh conditions for low pay,” Kurtenbach repots. “The dispute highlights challenges big companies face in living up to their codes of conduct while outsourcing most of their production. It also reflects the pressures Chinese journalists confront in doing their jobs.”
Kurtenbach repots, “According to local media reports, the Shenzhen Intermediate Court, in the southern export hub of Shenzhen, accepted the case on July 10 and froze the personal assets of the two journalists, Wang You and editor Weng Bao, of the Shanghai-based paper. Court officials in Shenzhen refused comment Wednesday.”
Kurtenbach repots, “Chinese media and a journalists’ advocacy group, Reporters Without Borders, have criticized the move and urged Apple, which has vowed to ensure fair treatment of workers at its suppliers, to intercede. ‘Apple is working behind the scenes to help resolve this issue,’ an Apple spokesman, Jill Tan, said Wednesday. She said she could not comment further.”
Full article here.
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