6 September, 2013Apple has failed to deliver on the promises of ending abuse of labour rights in its supply chain. The changes to have been made by July this year are sadly absent.
Apple and its suppliers received wide media coverage when earlier this year pledging to end workers’ abuse with the support of the Fair Labor Association, FLA. The deadline for what turned out to be a hollow promise was set for July 2013.
Not only have the reforms, such as establishing genuine collective representation in the workplace, not been implemented, but also the abuse continues. For example, the question of illegal overtime has not been addressed and workers in Chinese factories supplying Apple still work overtime.
IndustriALL Global Union slams the lack of reform:
"Apple should be aware of who actually delivers the genuine voice of the workers. The effective solution for correcting worker abuses at Apple’s suppliers could only be found through face-to-face dialogue/discussion with representatives democratically elected by the workers themselves."
Read more about the broken promises from the Economic Policy Institute here.