Ralph Nader, a five-time failed U.S. presidential candidate, has written an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Here it is, verbatim:
Dear Mr. Cook,
“Designed by Apple in California” has a nicer ring to it than “Assembled by workers paid about a dollar per hour, working 11-hour shifts, and sleeping eight to a room in the Jabil Circuit corporate dormitories in Wuxi, China.” But, no matter how you spin it on the iPhone packaging, you continue to turn away from the horrid working conditions and miserly pay at your Chinese factories. Just last month, while you displayed through a two hour event on the insandouts of tiny iPhone 6 and Apple Watch design breakthroughs how capable your company is of solving problems it cares to solve, China Labor Watch and Green America revealed in their newest report, “Two Years of Broken Promises” how you have failed to apply even a modicum of the problemsolving focus you bring for product design to the “serious health and safety, environmental, and human rights violations” at Chinese factories assembling the iPhone.
“That’s the price of affordable phones,” says the corporatist argument. This could be the case, if Apple was just barely profitable. But, as revealed in a recent letter responding to Carl Icahn’s call for more stock buybacks (you respond to billionaire’s pleas much more often than workers’ pleas), Apple is planning to have repurchased $130 billion of its own shares by the end of next year. In short, Apple is so profitable, that it does not know what to do with $130 billion except buy back stock from its shareholders to maybe boost its share price.
There are many alternate ways could have spent its surplus profits. For example, what if Apple decided to invest that excess $130 billion in dignified working conditions and living wages, instead of unproductively using their surplus to buy stocks back from the wealthy? Estimates differ, but according to Chinese labor watchdogs, factory workers in Apple’s supply chain make average salaries of, estimating at the high end, about $500 per month for about 80 hours of work per week. Doubling monthly salaries and cutting hours in half reforms that would make great strides towards having Chinese factories meet modern, dignified standards of a living wage from a 40hour work week would cost ~$1500 per month (~$18,000 per year) for each factory worker. To have achieved these reforms for the 300,000 Foxconn workers who assembled the iPhone 5s would have cost Apple about $5.4 billion annually.
If instead of buying back stock, Apple had used its excess $130 billion to endow a foundation to achieve these reforms, it would have paid out at a conservative five percent interest $6.5 billion annually, enough to double wages and ensure a 40-hour workweek for hundreds of thousands of iPhone workers, while leaving a $1.1 billion surplus as an annual budget for ensuring topnotch health, safety and environmental standards at Apple factories. The technology company that leads the way in profits and product design could, without changing anything but the amount of excess, unproductive money it uses to repurchase stock from wealthy shareholders, could also lead the way in dignified working conditions, hours and wages. Finally, some of Apple’s Chinese factory workers may become able to buy the iPhones they manufacture.
This goes to show that tolerating poverty wages is not the price we pay for affordable phones. Rather, poverty wages and harmful conditions are a consequence of tolerating outrageous stock buybacks. You had a choice for the $130 billion: living wages for workers or stock buybacks for millionaires? You chose buybacks. Here’s a challenge for the present and future use of surplus profits: why not let the customers decide? Just as they have consumer interests in thinner iPhones and sleeker MacBooks, they also have humane interests in more dignified working conditions and more liveable wages for the workers that make their products. And you, more than any other CEO, have the technological ability to poll your customers about who Chinese workers or millionaire shareholders should receive Apple’s excess money.
Are you scared that they might Think Different™ about this issue than Carl Icahn?
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
MacDailyNews Take: A few points:
• The vast majority of AAPL shareholders are not “millionaires.” To claim otherwise is demagoguery, which is, of course, Ralph Nader’s stock-in-trade.
• Apple doesn’t have any Chinese factories, hence these are not “Apple’s Chinese factory workers.”
• Why would non-Apple companies have any claim whatsoever to Apple’s money over actual Apple stakeholders?
• Apple Inc. is a business, not a charity.
• Apple has done more to raise conditions and pay for Chinese factory workers than any other company on earth.
• Ralph Nader is an illogical kook. His open letter should be placed directly into Tim Cook’s circular file.
For more info, Apple Inc.’s Supplier responsibility website is: www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/
Related articles:
Fair Labor Association delivers its findings on Apple supplier facilities – August 15, 2014
Green America ‘pleased’ with Apple’s first steps in banning chemicals; urges Apple to go further – August 14, 2014
Apple bans use of 2 hazardous chemicals in iPhone assembly – August 13, 2014
Greenpeace praises Apple for reducing use of conflict minerals – February 13, 2014
Apple confirms suppliers use conflict-free minerals – February 13, 2014
Fair Labor Association sees progress at major Apple supplier Foxconn – December 12, 2013
Apple: 99% of supply chain workers now working under 60 hours per week – March 7, 2013
Foxconn aims to boost China worker participation in its union – February 4, 2013
Conditions at Apple suppliers’ factories in China improving – December 27, 2012
Apple now tracking working hours of over one million supply chain employees – December 19, 2012
Foxconn makes 284 changes including trimming hours, boosting safety following FLA audits – August 21, 2012
Liar Mike Daisey blasts Mossberg, Swisher over Tim Cook interview – May 31, 2012
Foxconn workers talk about jobs, working conditions assembling iPhones and iPads – May 5, 2012
Apple Foxconn petition maker Mark Shields a D.C.-based professional activist – May 3, 2012
Marketplace goes inside Foxconn, posts exclusive look at how an iPad is made (with video) – April 12, 2012
Liar Mike Daisey dumped as Cornish College commencement speaker, will not receive honorary degree – April 9, 2012
Apple supplier Foxconn cuts working hours; workers worry, question why – March 30, 2012
Fair Labor Association releases Foxconn report; looks to correct overtime, safety issues – March 29, 2012
Change.org petition calls for Change.org to retract petition against Apple; says based on Mike Daisey’s lies – March 21, 2012
Foxconn won’t take legal action against ‘This American Life’ after retraction of Mike Daisey lies – March 19, 2012
Foxconn glad Mike Daisey’s lies exposed; says media hasn’t gone far enough in reporting truth – March 19, 2012
Apple and the Daisey affair: Why did the company keep its silence, when it knew a year ago what we know now? – March 18, 2012
Apple firestorm leads Mike Daisey to change his ‘agony and ecstasy of Steve Jobs’ show – March 17, 2012
‘This American Life’ retracts story, says it can’t vouch for the truth of Mike Daisey’s monologue about Apple in China – March 16, 2012
Foxconn: The fire that wasn’t – March 15, 2012
Apple supplier Foxconn again lifts pay for China workers; 16-25 percent increase – February 17, 2012
FLA President: Foxconn factories ‘first-class; way, way above average’ – February 15, 2012
‘Slacktivism’ groups claim credit for Apple supplier audits over a month after Apple originally announced its plans – February 14, 2012
Thousands line up for iPhone assembly jobs at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou, China plant – January 30, 2012
Apple CEO Tim Cook calls New York Times supplier report ‘patently false and offensive’ – January 27, 2012
Apple audit led by COO Tim Cook prompted improvements at Foxconn – February 14, 2011
Media blows it: Foxconn employees face significantly lower suicide risk – May 28, 2010
Workers are paid for their productivity. He cannot compare US workers with Chinese workers since they have relatively lower productivity than US workers. The opportunity cost of Chinese worker to produce an iPhone is lower than US worker, therefore, they get to manufacture them, not because they are better at manufacturing them but because they have a relatively lower opportunity cost.
We all want everyone to be better paid, but this world has limited resources, and this is they way it is going.
Mr. Nader seems not to take into consideration the local conditions when he writes. Apple has really forced companies to do things they would not do otherwise to improve the conditions. He doesn’t seem to recognize that when he writes. I am trying to figure out why he writes now and why Apple. The only thing I can think of is because it is the most successful. Does Mr. Nader think Apple is another GM? Ralph, they are not.
Nader is unfortunately displaying the same know-it-all arrogance and ignorance us Westerners display when it comes to foreign countries.
For a start, what Westerners may consider “poverty” and “overwork” in the American context is in many cases not that in the foreign situation.
It’s simply a cultural thing. Many Asian BOSSES are known to work 12-hour days, seven days a week.
Probably if the manufacturers of Apple products were to institute a five-hour work day in a five-day work week, the workers would simply regard that as an opportunity to work at another job for seven more hours each day! And raising their salaries would not change that.
Reminds me of a true story from a few years ago where an Australian man got friendly with a Thai streetwalker. When he found out she was doing it to be able to buy a house, he bought her a house so that she would stop streetwalking.
When he went back a few years later, she was still streetwalking – to be able to buy a second house!
Totally nailed the Chinese cultural mentality. The change has to come from within, not engineered by an outside party. It will come when the Chinese adopt more western views pumped through media like Hollywood movies (and that is coming as the affluent Chinese become more aware of cultures beyond their shores) but for those off the fields, money is the holy grail to buy a better life as they define it – usually through show of material things and education (to earn more money and status), not so much time for family and personal introspection. The vast majority of Chinese workers in the country’s factories are unlikely high enough on Maslow’s hierarchy to think that way.
I would like suggest Nader read the following business week article about the cancer-related deaths at Samsung and make some noise about it:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-10/deaths-at-samsung-alter-south-koreas-corporate-is-king-mindset
Imagine dying from cancer at age 29! Chemicals used in these processes, like benzene for example, are well known carcinogens (http://m.tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/south-korea-court-links-samsung-factory-to-worker-cancer-deaths-215480.html)
Personally, I hope Apple can rid itself of their dependency on Samsung as soon as possible.
Nader ‘idea’ : Apple doubles wages etc, don;t appease shareholders…. Result: Samsung which already pays workers less (it’s got many factories in China , many with masses of underaged workers) will further undercut apple, Apple will suffer, shareholders not even getting buybacks revolt…. Board (elected by shareholders) fires Cook,.. Ive and federighi etc (who NOT want to work under an “Elop” ) leave… GOODBYE APPLE, GOODBYE FOXCONN and Apple’s jobs.
Carlos Slim richest man in Mexico ““The only way to fight poverty is with employment,”
The Best way for Big Mouths who want to ‘help’ workers is to start companies and hire thousands of people…
(Apple has so much money and able to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of workers is that they are GOOD at what they are doing. Nobody would invest in a Nader ‘no profit company’ . or he would run them into the ground so his actual contribution to workers would be UNEMPLOYMENT. Nader, dude get a clue…. look at the videos … WORKERS TRAVEL FOR DAYS TO LINE UP AT THE DOORS TO WORK AT FOXCONN FACTORIES because they have practically the best pay and benefits in China)
Apple is already trying to open factories in USA to build Mac Pros, glass etc (and they need MONEY to do this) , give Cook a chance and don’t stab Apple …
Apparently if you’re successful then you become the target for all kinds of trolls. Jealous trolls, journalist trolls, Wall Street trolls, and Ralph Nader.
Oh dear, FOXCON, Here I will pay you double for the manufacturing of the iPhone, if only you paid your workers twice as much. Also every worker gets there own room, bathroom, kitchen and TV. They get a college education and a car, bike and $400 per month for food. If you don’t take my money and give it to the people, I will take my business to umm… somewhere else.
Heck I will make the iPhone in America and pay our US Citizens 20 time more for the same job. They work 40 hours per week and earn $70,000 per year, before benefits.
Because we have so much money, we are going to do what we ask you, sell the iPhone for $200 less, and give money back to our shareholders. Because we believe in break even.
We are Apple, the non-profit organization. We just filed yesterday and from now on, every iPhone purchase is tax deductible!!!
/s
I’m all for protectionism. Free trade is dumb. US workers get the boot, so companies can send jobs to wherever people will work for nothing. This country’s workers have been sold down the river by a small group of con artists. Too bad.
Ronald Reagan was protectionist. Ask Honda and Toyota.
Apple products should be made in the USA. Apple would still be incredibly profitable. Too bad, greedy bastards run everything. Oh well.
two thirds of Apple’s profits come from overseas
following your “protectionist” logic maybe Apple should incorporate off shore or something? Soon China’s Apple’s profits might match USA’s, so should Apple become a China company?
Apple is the largest taxpayer in USA (with USA tax rate around 30%), employs thousands of USA workers and has opened and supported factories to make Mac Pros, glass etc in USA (not even counting the retail operations) . Dozens of components of iPhones, Macs etc are made in USA and sent to China , most of the high paid design (thousands of engineers etc) and admin jobs are in the USA (why do you think they are building a super big new campus in California? I tell you many countries would love to give Apple tax breaks to have that NON POLLUTING high paid jobs in their countries… )
Go look up the Smoot-Hawley tariff and don’t embarrass yourself like this again.
-jcr
Ralph,
Who else makes electronic devices in China? Checked the origination content of your Ford lately? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial if Walmart answered your clarion call?
Or do you mean like how we pay people in this country?
Like teachers and retirement home workers?
How about the pre-school worker who looks after your child?
Police officers? Social workers? What about that single mother who works two jobs because her healthcare, rent, groceries and energy bills eat up every cent she makes?
What don’t you look around this country first and write an open letter then?
Oh wait, not too much publicity in that is there?
Ralph Nader is the only leftist that I have a significant respect for. He is one of the (very) few hippies to put his money where his socialist mouth is. For that, I have a lot of respect for him. That said, he of course needs to tone down the idealism, although what he is saying has some merit. His argument would have been a lot more convincing if he acknowledged that Apple is the clear leader in the principles he is promoting. Unfortunately, his brand of idealism leaves no room for pragmatics. In the end, it’s kind of refreshing to hear some comments from someone with genuine conviction, even if he’s very wrong about Apple. Hopefully he will amend his stance so that a productive discussion can be had.
By attacking the only Foxconn client that has done something to insure better working conditions while letting Apple’s competitors off scott free, Nader shows he doesn’t care about the Chinese workers and is just headline grabbing for himself.
BTW – How much money is Nader giving the Chinese workers?
Ralph needs to polish his math, too. If we’re cutting the hours of 300k workers in half, then we need 600k workers. And if we’re paying them all double, well, I’ll let an engineer figure it out but it’s a lot more than Ralph says.
a lot of WORKERS busted their balls making money to invest in 401s, RRSPs (canada), bank mutual funds, insurance savings plans etc which have aapl.
So Nader the fighter for workers don’t give a fuk for THESE workers? what about a reasonable life for these workers when the retire? many won’t have health care from their jobs anymore etc. So Nader doesn’t think retirement funds should grow? WHAT IS HIS SOLUTION for RETIREMENT? go on welfare?
I’ve hardly Icahn but i’ve got aapl stock.
Nader doesn’t have to worry himself as he’s multi millionaire, made a lot of money when he was younger in stocks, owning multiple millions. Nader famously says he ‘gives’ a lot of money to his pet projects (organizations founded by him) but he can do so as he’s got secured income, he easily makes tens of thousands of dollars giving a single speech. He hobnobs with billionaires, his latest scheme was to run a political party supported by billionaires (to divest itself from needing common folk to support it like other parties),
wikipedia:
“According to the mandatory fiscal disclosure report that he filed with the Federal Election Commission in 2000, Nader owned more than $3 million worth of stocks and mutual fund shares; his single largest holding was more than $1 million worth of stock in Cisco Systems, Inc. He also held between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of shares in the Magellan Fund.[103]”
I hate articles like this, with people talking out of their butts. I lived in China almost 15 years ago and at that time the workers made around $100, and you know what? Most saved half of what they made. Sure, they lived in dorms and had several to a room, but again this was better than their homes in the villages of rural China. We love to lecture China, but with a single digit savings rate against a 42% savings rate in China, I wouldn’t be casting stones. Just because they don’t make what US workers make, then it is unfair? Get a grip. Spoken like someone who has never ventured outside the US, never mind lived anywhere else.
Nader, like most other leftards, has an obnoxious habit of assuming that his desires are more important than the desires of those who earn the money he envies.
Speaking as an Apple shareholder: Fuck you, Ralph.
-jcr
How can any sensible human being disagree with what Nader is saying? MDN’s response is disgusting to say the least. According to MDN, Apple becomes a charity if they decide to share a small portion of their profits with the people who work hard to build their products and make these profits possible!
The response of so many of the commentators here is equally appalling. What is wrong with you?
Bottom line: Nader is an idiot.
There is something to be said for apple raising the wages of those in the factories that make their products, that would not only be a good PR bump but a huge competitive advantage. If apple could force a wage increase across the board in china it would really put a hurt on apples competitors, as apple is the only company with the profit margins to handle the increase.
im unfortunately not a millionaire but I do depend a AAPL
Stock for my retirement.
Thanks to Ralph Nader, America was forced to endure
8 years of George Bush and Dick Cheney ‘s leadership
Which nearly bankrupted our country and left thousands of our
Soldiers and others dead and wounded.
Now we have Obama to take that “near bankruptcy” to a complete bankruptcy.
1500 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan under Obama who isn’t even committed to win that war — the war he called “the good war.” How can you send Americans to their deaths for a job you don’t even plan to finish? Only a POS would do that.
I assume he was dead he was around when I was a teen and I am nearly a pensioner now.
Sorry, but socialism doesn’t work. Doesn’t work in France, doesn’t work in Europe and didn’t work in the UK in the 60s and 70s, I know, I was there.
Do you not realize the irony of what you are saying, when it is Apple itself that chooses the communist China instead of the capitalist USA to manufacture its products? Do you not realize that without what you are calling a failed system, Apple would not be able to realize such profits?
People here are afraid for their pensions. How would what Nader is saying negatively affect their pensions? Don’t you people realize that it is precisely the skewed distribution of wealth between capital and labor that forces almost all americans into debt? US has the biggest public and private debt in the world. Remove the petrodollar privilege (which is essentially a free ride on the back of the rest of the world) and the whole economy will go down in the sinkhole…
People here are afraid for their pensions. How would what Nader is saying negatively affect their pensions? ”
you are so naive it is appalling.
some pensions have aapl
others people planning retirement might have a lot of aapl in their private investments.
What Nader suggests “no buybacks” and other “screw the shareholders” would make the big investors BAIL OUT and aapl will fall. Aapl fell 40% just a few years ago just from analysts comments basically.
if other companies did as Nader said their stock would also probably tank, so pension funds which are supposed to grow at a certain amount a year – compounded growth (otherwise you probably will never get the amount you want) – might actually shrink.
Maybe YOU work for something like the Govt. with SECURED pensions , most people don’t.
—-
foxconn already pays better wages than most Chinese workers earn with way better benefits and auditing (by labour organizations) , that’s why people fight to work there.
Pay them double for half the hours (4X pay) would be silly, WHY DOESN’T NADER SUGGEST USA WORKERS GET FOUR TIMES THEIR PAY. for example those many paid workers in HIS organizations (secretaries, tech staff, janitors etc) do they get 4 times the pay of other people elsewhere with the same jobs??? Pay is linked to the LOCAL JOB MARKET…
Nader is a multi millionaire and in the past has refused to disclose his tax returns….
I can go on and on
Buyback does not affect the long term trend of the stock. Investment and a strong portfolio of products does. Apple is the best example. Financial engineering will benefit the big speculators, not the long term small investors.
On the other hand, paying your manufacturing workers more than what your competitors could possibly match, can become a tremendous competitive advantage. Nader’s proposal in no way hurts Apple’s profitability, even in the short term.
As for the rest of your comment, Nader has often criticized the offshoring of american jobs. If Apple did the manufacturing in US, I am sure he would make the same proposal for the benefit of American workers.
really?
so why don’t you show me he pays his workers several times the average for the kind of job?
buybacks alone is not the issue , it’s how Apple TREATs shareholders. If big shareholders think Apple doesn’t care about them they will bail and the stock would tank. 70% of aapl is held by big funds and investors.
Apple already is despised by many big funds and investors it’s got Half the P.E of Google, less than msft and less than the S&P AVERAGE.
the stock only started to rise up again recently when Cook initiated dividends and buybacks and was more responsive to big investors.
Buybacks reduce the number of shares thus reducing dividend payouts, the math shows that long term Apple saves more than dividends alone.
The low average wage is precisely the issue. I don’t think Nader implied that Apple is unique in this regard among its competitors. Everybody took advantage of “globalization” and out shored jobs to low wage countries with very weak labor protection laws.
I don’t want to argue theoretically with you about the relation between buyback, prices, p/E etc. Apple’s history is I think the best answer. Apple managed to become the most valuable company in the world without any financial engineering tricks. Besides, nobody is arguing for extremes. Nader’s proposal is to distribute a very moderate portion of profits towards the manufacturing workers. How can anybody object to this?
People are being taught the wrong theories on economics. The result is that we are back to 18 century as far as wealth distribution goes…
one more time did Nader pay his workers (his a multi millionaire with many companies) several times the average going rate for workers in their area? (he’s suggesting that for Apple in China). Please show me he’s paying cleaning staff 50 bucks an hour.
Nader is doing an absurd thing with this apple issue and roping in the idiots to support him.
Foxconn employs half a million workers, many don’t work for apple , so how is it going to work? (Please note idiots just like Nader keeps referring to ‘Apple’ factories, Apple doesn’t own them, hire workers or manage them) Are those tens of thousands in Foxconn working on Msft Xboxes, Dell and HP, Nintendo etc stuff going to get paid more? If Apple pays the workers on its lines more the rest will rebel … And if Foxconn raises wages across the board (impossible actually due to financial constraints), THE REST OF ITS CLIENTS WILL GO TO SOME OTHER ASSEMBLER…. Foxconn will die and all the workers : UNEMPLOYED.
Also What about the hundreds of millions of workers elsewhere already getting Less than foxconn NOW? Why doesn’t nader care about them but picking on the less than 1% (already well paid workers) doing Apple stuff? Workers travel from all over China to work at Foxconn because it’s got some of the best wages and benefits today.
So Nader[s suggestion pointing up apple is non workable , picking on a name brand employing a tiny fraction (who are relatively already well paid) of China’s billion population is only a publicity stunt to shore up his image.
as for the stock your arguments keep getting sillier (I give you PE and dividend/buyback maths, you give me fluff) : one like I said the stock is STiLL currently undervalued, Two: the reason its gone up recently is partly due to dividends and buybacks and better response to big shareholders (who hold 70% of aapl stock) and the reason it’s gone up over the years is that it’s doing what its doing and you all want to CHANGE it. (you see you’ve defeated your own argument, you said Apple has been doing well for years yet you want to change it)
“How can anybody object to this?”
you keep saying that because it’s an emotional red herring argument, implying that we who object to Nader’s unworkable stupidity don’t care for workers which is B.S that doesn’t work on the logically astute. To show the fallacy of that I can also state, the USA should give half its wealth to poor countries as there are over a billion starving people , paraphrasing you ” how can anybody object to this (giving half of the abundance would not cause americans to starve) ” , don’t you care about starving people? ”
see? thing is whether a plan is workable or not…
—
I’ve worked for over 10 years in Asia. What is your experience?
Other than calling names, you know little.
First, Nader is not targeting Apple specifically. What he is suggesting is consistent with what he is advocating all his life on workers’ rights, irrespective of nationality. You don’t realize that paying low wages to the Chinese puts pressure on american wages too. You don’t understand how “globalization” works.
Second, you believe that paying more to the Chinese workers would somehow reduce the disposable income of americans. Even if it is the stock holders you have in mind, this is nonsense. What might affect is the earnings of speculators not the long-term investors.
Let me repeat. Steve Jobs created the most valuable company in the world without any financial engineering. No paybacks. What does this tell you about the long-run relationship between price and buybacks? You know who was the champion of financial engineering the last 15 years or so? IBM. The company that also pioneered the offshoring of american jobs.
Third, Nader is not suggesting that Apple should not invest in US, or increase wages in the US. On the contrary.
Last, the whole argument regarding Foxconn workers rebelling and the rest of the Chinese economy disintegrating, is ludicrous to say the least. There is no space here to talk about how this can be done.
As I said previously, you trivialize the argument by taking it to the extreme. Nader is suggesting a redistribution of a very moderate portion of profits towards the manufacturing base. This may very well put pressure on Apple’s competitors and will more than likely benefit the american workers in the long run. Because, the pressure on american wages is proportional to the pressure on chinese wages. This is international economics 101 for you.
one more time: you support nader for increasing foxconn and only for Apple lines SEVERAL times the norm (double pay, half hours) .
so I’m still waiting for you to show me Nader stats that he pays HIS workers several times the going wage in USA.
Apple already pressured Foxconn to increase wages several times so that Foxconn workers ALREADY have good wages as I’ve pointed out several times ( seriously every time I point out facts vs your fallacies you ignore it but go into a different tangent ) but not for Nader?
if Nader was SERIOUS about helping Chinese workers instead of TRING TO GAIN PUBLICITY FOR HIMSELF and get support from ignorant idiots shouldn’t he be saying:
“Corporations in China should follow Apple’ excellent example:
Apple has : pressured Foxconn to increase wages and cut overtime so that now Foxconn has one of the best working environments in China,
We also laud Apple’s auditing of Foxconn and it’s other suppliers and PUTTING THOSE RESULTS MONTHLY ONLINE. Which practically NONE of it’s competitors or other manufactures are doing
-We also applaud Apple giving tuition fees for workers who want to take courses , stopping suppliers from using underaged workers and giving the handful of underaged workers discovered scholarships to finish their schooling. Apple has infact terminated contracts with suppliers who consistently violate their worker policies and unlike companies like Samsung which according to China Labour Watch has near 50% underaged workers in some factories…
etc etc”
DOING THE ABOVE pointing to reality of What Apple is currently doing and asking the 99.99& of the OTHER companies in china to follow suit makes more sense for the general well being of workers in china and elsewhere. That would Help the 99.99% who are currently having worse issues than Foxconn apple workers. (But of course People have a habit f attacking apple as its good publicity vs common sense, for example at the peak of the so called suicide scandal at foxconn the suicide rate there as percentage of workers was lower than the suicide rate of college students in the USA — approximate age similarity — and way lower than the suicide rate of china in general )
but Nader doesn’t do what i suggest because he is less interested in really helping chinese workers, BASHING APPLE which GETS HIM MORE PUBLICITY regardless of how absurd it is.
you keep pointing to apple’s success yet you as I’ve pointed out WANT TO CHANGE APPLE instead of allowing their management to do what it needs to . as for Jobs Apple stock was growing at around 40% every year (Fortune: under Steve Jobs apple stock has ” approximate 170-fold return in about 16 years or roughly 38% compound annual growth rate ” )., the growth rate of aapl over the last 3 years has been ZERO as it’s just past the high attained 3 years ago. ( when I point out things like PE ratios you ignore it yet You say I know nothing about finance ! its your ignorance that is obvious here.
JohnG using your same arguments:
there’s like I said over a billion starving people out there.
why are you typing posts with a PC or phone or something?
isn’t that a frivolity when people are starving, Shouldn’t you SELL your tv, Pc — that device probably is equal to many years pay in some countries and save many lives (the monthly salary in Cuba is 15-20 bucks a month, and cuba is relatively ‘prosperous’ ) etc? Aren’t saving a starving child more important than TV or PC? Paraphrasing you.. “How can anybody object to this”?
seems like a direct workable intervention on your part since you seem to so concerned instead of complaining about Apple, go out in the street and start hawking your internet device (you can’t use ebay cause you are no longer connected) …
Of course people like you would only talk but never really take action that would cause you PERSONAL PAIN.
of course my arguments are verging on absurd but so is the one dealing with apple but because it’s a huge corp which people love to hate,and people love to hate shareholders too (as they are ‘rich’) , it’s ok to diss apple with absurd ideas.
at the end nobody really does what I suggest– sell everything — as even the most liberal person understands : the real solution to poverty etc is for investors (shareholders) who think they would get a good return to invest in companies and thus provide jobs and reduce poverty.
Some foxconn workers say they earn in one month more than their farmer parents in a year…
This is such a frivolous argument. Nobody asked Cook to sell his car to give it to the poor. I think I am waisting my time here…
All this chatter about Nader is going to elevate the terror threat level.
The Nader reference is at 3:15.
Sorry, but Ralph is right even if I’m a hare holder that isn’t a millionaire. That money should be in circulation, not in bank accounts. People make an economy grow not buy backs.
$500 per month, really? The average income in China is $153 per month. Airline pilots make $761 and Computer programers make $252 per month. So he’s proposing that Chinese workers in factories should make more then airline pilots?!?
http://www.worldsalaries.org/china.shtml
Thanks for the ten year-old data. Now, get up to date.
$500/month is still an enormous amount for unskilled labor in China.
which of Hon Hai’s 200,000 workers does Nader want Apple to subsidize? Does a worker’s salary get cut if they are moved into a different assembly line? How does Hon Hai segregate its Apple Double Salary workers for the other assemblyline workers so they don’t get the crap beaten out of them for their double wages? WTF is Nader talking about? Why the hell would we subsidize a Taiwanese/Chinese for profit company? This makes no sense from the LEFT, RIGHT or CENTER.