In 2013, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) conducted independent external assessments at two facilities operated by Quanta, a supplier to Apple, a Participating Company with the FLA. The assessments of these two facilities (Tech-Com Computer Co., Ltd., in Shanghai; and the Tech-Full Computer Co., Ltd., in Changshu) were conducted by Openview Service Ltd., a local, independent labor monitoring organization, accredited by the FLA, along with two members of the FLA staff, and were limited to portions of the factory serving Apple’s production lines.
In both cases, assessors followed the FLA’s Sustainable Compliance Initiative (SCI) methodology, identifying instances of non-compliance with the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct and their root causes, to enable Apple to develop and implement sustainable remediation plans. Overall, assessors spent five and four days in each facility respectively, assessing the Shanghai facility from August 5 to 9, and the Changshu facility from August 12 to 15. At the time of the assessments, the Quanta facilities employed 31,706 workers on Apple production lines in Shanghai, and 4,711 workers on Apple production lines in Changshu. Assessors conducted 389 worker interviews in Shanghai (with 107 of them conducted off-site), and 132 in Changshu (with 49 conducted off-site).
Source: Fair Labor Association
Links to the executive summary for the pair of reports, along with both independent external assessments, including company action plans for remediation of non-compliances, here.
Darrell Etherington reports for TechCrunch, “Apple has pointed out in a statement provided to TechCrunch that it has already taken action to address some of the issues contained therein.”
Read Apple’s statement in the full article here.
the Fair Labor Association should examine labor practices here in the USA.