Watchdog Group Forms Petition for 'Ethical' iPhone 5

[IDemo]

January 31, 2012 03:14pm EST

A new petition is demanding Apple make its next smartphone "the first ethical iPhone," in light of revelations about deadly working conditions at overseas plants where the devices are manufactured.

Consumer watchdog group SumOfUs has posted a new online petition calling for Apple to "overhaul the way its suppliers treat their workers" before the launch of the iPhone 5, rumored to be coming this summer. More than 35,000 people signed the petition in its first 24 hours, SumOfUs said.

"I use an iPhone myself," Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, executive director of SumOfUs, said in a statement. "I love it, but I don't love having to support sweatshops, and neither do millions of other Apple consumers. The hip, educated market that Apple aspires to corner is largely composed of responsible consumers who don't want to be complicit in sweatshop labor."

SumOfUs' campaign follows two reports in The New York Times which shined the spotlight on deadly working conditions at Apple’s supplier facilities in China and questioned whether Cupertino was ignoring such issues in favor of profits. Foxconn, one of Apple's largest suppliers, has come under fire time and again in recent years for its unsafe, military-like conditions that have driven workers to despair and suicide.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399650,00.asp

[gateley]

1. Done. I love everything Apple, but I hate the manufacturing conditions. I hope this

petition forces changes and that other manufacturers are pressured, too.

[FredisDead]

2. Apple's Suppliers Continuously Violate Code of Conduct

Apple Does Nothing to Change It

http://www.dailytech.com/Report+Apples+Suppliers+Continuously+Violate+Code+of+Conduct+Apple+Does+Nothing+to+Change+It/article23867.htm

Apple's history with suppliers that are abusive to their employees is no secret. Foxconn and Wintek are among Apple's electronics suppliers that have factories in China with horrible working conditions, but no matter how many times violations of Apple's supplier code of conduct are brought to light, the situation remains the same. Now, The New York Times has taken a closer look at the bleak environment that the employees of Apple's Asian suppliers are forced to deal with in its second installment of its iEconomy series.

[emulatorloo]

3. Good petition. Signed.

[Posteritatis]

4. Online petitions. LOL. (nt)

[JustAnotherGen]

5. It worked

To get VZW to eat the $2 charge the credit card companies/banks charge them for taking a credit/debit cards . . . that they wanted to pass through to customers.

Why wouldn't it work for a phone maker that rides their service?

[gateley]

6. Tell that to Bernie Sanders. And at the least, it may help to keep this in

the public eye and keep the pressure on. So instead of discounting it, why don't you go add your name?

[Dreamer Tatum]

7. "I don't love having to support sweatshops"...ummm, then DON'T, moron. nt

[fujiyama]

9. For many of us it's impossible

Our everyday actions inevitably support these sweatshops in many ways. Many now use iPhones for work.

Besides, Apple is only one of many companies to use Foxconn as a supplier - though it's certainly the best known and most profitable. That's why they're getting so much coverage. Hopefully, coverage and public scrutiny will get Apple and others to improve the working conditions in these factories - or even move some work back to the US (unlikely).

[emulatorloo]

13. Dunno, I think Microsoft, Dell, and Sony are better known than Apple by many

It seems to me that the petitioners are starting with Apple because they believe Apple is more reachable.

It is also well done because the petition is aimed at Apple users, who want the company to succeed AND do the right thing.

[emulatorloo]

12. It is highly unlikely you are FOXCONN free.

I'm pretty sure I could find at least one FOXCONN manufactured item in your possession. Much more likely I would multiple FOXCONN items.

[Dreamer Tatum]

14. So because I have Foxconn in my house, you are fine with Chinese slave labor.

That's REALLY what you're saying.

[emulatorloo]

15. No I am saying you are either naive or hypocritical

Like you, I am not "fine" with slave labor. I support the petition written about in the OP.

However, unlike you I understand the problem is much larger than Apple. If you want to pretend you aren't complicit in the problem as well, that is fine with me. However, as long as you are dishonest about the scope of this problem, you don't have anything of merit to contribute to the discussion.

[Dreamer Tatum]

16. I completely get that the problem is larger than Apple.

But all Apple fanboys have is "Well, it isn't just Apple, so SHUT UP!"

Which is puerile.

[emulatorloo]

17. What is puerile is your attempts to twist my statements into something they are not

"Well, it isn't just Apple, so SHUT UP!"

Um, no. My statement to you is "Stop pretending it is just Apple. Until you do, we are not going to have an honest discussion of why an entire industry has moved to this model and how to change it."

I think this petition is an excellent idea. I think it is extremely well done, because I think it appeals to the "better angels" of both Apple management and Apple customers. I hope that Apple responds to it with something positive.

Just as I would think a petition for an ethical XBOX360 would be an excellent idea. And so on, and so on.

[Dreamer Tatum]

18. At what point did I pretend it's just Apple?

Never.

[emulatorloo]

19. In your first post.

Where you denigrated the petition highlighted by IDemo and its signers as morons. And implied your own superiority to such morons.

I'm done with participating in your attempted hijack of this thread.

[Dreamer Tatum]

20. That was a response to quote by one person in the article.

Nice try, though.

[sudopod]

8. Kick for Cruelty-Free Computing. nt

[quakerboy]

10. A quesion about this

From wikipedia:
"In April 2011, Foxconn announced that it would be moving production of the iPad and other Apple products to Brazil where it could begin production before the end of 2011.[102]"

Did it/is it actually happening? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Does it have any relevance to this petition or the movement behind it?

[IDemo]

11. Sounds as if they're expanding production in Brazil, but not cutting it in China

From SlashGear.com, yesterday:

Foxconn expanding by 5 factories to bump Apple production
Chris Burns, Jan 31st 2012

The folks at Foxconn have announced plans to expand their production of Apple products by five factories soon, each of them in Brazil. These extra factories will allow them to cater to demand for both iPhones and iPads, but mostly the latter, and will be combining to up their annual run rate by 400 million units within five years. São Paulo’s Secretary of Planning and Development of the State, Julio Semeghini, released this information saying that the five factories will be staffing right around 1,000 workers each.

These new Foxconn factories will be working with iPad and other Apple products, but will also be able to tooled for notebook and general electronics production as well. Following the Chinese New Year celebration this year, officials from both Foxconn and Brazilian government will meet to decide where the factories will be built. Sao Paulo is said to be pushing heavily for the investment as these factories will bring in one whole heck of a lot of money to whichever area they are built in.

In addition to these new factories, M.I.C. Gadget reports the Chinese city of Zhengzhou was flooded last night with worker hopefuls waiting to be let in to sign up at their local labor agency for a job at one of Foxconn’s local factories. Foxconn is said to be working in Zhengzhou to hire up twice the workers they have now at the facility they’ve got there ahead of the next iPhone. That’s 100,000 more employees here instead of the slightly smaller number in Brazil. So what this all means is that Apple is here to stay, essentially – and that another iPhone may well be coming soon!

http://www.slashgear.com/foxconn-expanding-by-5-factories-to-bump-apple-production-31211422/