Riots at the Apple iSlate factory in China
While Apple is ready to conquer the world with their latest creation – the iSlate – there is great unrest at a Chinese supplier. More than two thousand workers are protesting for several days against dangerous working conditions and low wages.
The protests began Friday after the death of four workers in the factory. The workers blocked the entrance and threw to commercial vehicles. Then they pelted police with stones.
The demonstrators work in a factory where touch screens are made for the iPhone, iPod and most likely also for the iSlate, the unofficial name for the new device Apple presents next week. The four employees of the factory were killed by exposure to hexane, the chemical that cleans touch screens. Another 47 employees have to undergo medical treatment after contact with the substance.
The owner of the factory, the Taiwanese company Wintek, initially denied the danger of hexane. The anger of the workers flared further when it became known that Wintek was planning this year, a “red envelopes” to share. Chinese workers receive this bonus just before the traditional Chinese New Year begins.
Wintek has already promised that the bonus this year is. The workers are still angry about the bad working conditions. They are also unhappy about the hastily conducted research on local authorities to the use of hexane and require a thorough inspection.
“It concerns us, it’s not only about money”, the newspaper China Daily quoted Zhu employee of the factory. “What concerns us is the indifference of our health. They force us to work hard against a low payment and to give us to eat poorly. Many immigrants like me are now not only poor but also have poor health.”
The current rumbling with a Chinese supplier isn’t for the first time. Last year, Apple presented its own investigation into the working conditions of suppliers. It showed that 45 of the 83 manufacturers of iPods and iPhones in 2008 paid no overtime. Half of them may not even paid the minimum wage.
Nearly one quarter of Apple’s suppliers not meeting environmental regulations. In one fifth of the plants were ignored safety and the living conditions for workers under the measure. In China, most factory workers live in dormitories next to the plant.
It is not clear what Apple has done to improve the working conditions at its suppliers. In any case, it has been insufficient to prevent new unrest. The American company has not responded to the current protests. The government of Suzhou, the city where the manufacturer of touch screens is, did it. The authorities bring down the wrath of the workers as “based on rumors.”
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