“Tim Cook is ‘deeply offended’ by the BBC’s allegations that Apple mistreats workers in its Chinese factories where the company’s iPhones and iPads are assembled,” Rhiannon Williams reports for The Telegraph. “In an email to around 5,000 staff across the UK, Apple senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams said both himself and the chief executive 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. [BBC] Panorama’s report implied that Apple isn’t improving working conditions. Let me tell you, nothing could be further from the truth.'”
“Williams claimed that Apple had shared “facts and perspective” on the company’s commitments to human rights with the BBC in advance, but that they were ‘clearly missing from their programme,'” Williams reports. “Apple employs around 1,400 manufacturing workers in China, whom Williams said were ‘talented engineers and managers who are also compassionate people, trained to speak up when they see safety risks or mistreatment. We know of no other company doing as much as Apple does to ensure fair and safe working conditions, to discover and investigate problems, to fix and follow through when issues arise, and to provide transparency into the operations of our suppliers.'”
Read more, including what Apple is doing in regard to Indonesian tin, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote yesterday:
These reports all carry the stench of hit-pieces since they go to ludicrous lengths to impugn Apple for the actions of others. Apple has done and continues to do more for Chinese workers than any company on earth. Blaming Apple for poor work conditions at Chinese companies is like blaming Bono for the spread of AIDS in Africa.
Apple Inc.’s Supplier Responsibility website:
www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/
Related articles:
BBC News claims Apple ‘failing to protect Chinese factory workers’ – December 18, 2014
Apple bans use of 2 hazardous chemicals in iPhone assembly – August 13, 2014
Samsung: Sorry about that cancer – May 14, 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
