2012-04-03 11:27:19
Mar 30th 2012, 8:58 by M.B.| NEW YORK
IS IT possible to run an ethical supply chain ? After the publication on March
29th of the first independent audit of the factories Apple uses in China, the
iconic consumer electronics giant has definitely become the test case for
whether multinationals can put an end to labour abuses. According to the long
awaited report, which is considered one of the most detailed audits of a
Chinese manufacturer to date, there were at least 50 serious and pressing
non-compliances with Chinese law and Apple's code of conduct, including
excessive overtime and other health and safety violations.
Apple had asked the Fair Labour Association (FLA), a non-government
organisation, to conduct the audit following a burst of bad publicity over
reports of workers being abused, particularly at factories in China operated by
Hon Hai, known as Foxconn, the world s biggest contract manufacturer. The FLA
visited Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, and surveyed some 35,000
workers at three facilities where Apple products, including iPhones and iPads,
are assembled.
At all three, during the past 12 months workers on average exceeded the limit
of 60 hours of work a week stipulated in Apple s code of conduct. Many also
worked more than 36 hours overtime a month, China's legal limit. Nearly half of
workers surveyed said that they had had an accident or seen one. On the other
hand, no workers appear to have been under age (in contrast with a recent
internal audit by Apple), and the FLA says that conditions were "no worse than
any other factory in China".
Apple and its chief executive Tim Cook (pictured, talking to employees during
his visit of the iPhone production line at the newly built Foxconn Zhengzhou
Technology Park, Henan province, on March 28), to their credit, welcomed the
report and agreed to support its recommendations. "We think empowering workers
and helping them understand their rights is essential," the said in a
statement. And it claimed that is has been working quietly on these issues for
years, albeit clearly with only mixed results. Foxconn has told the FLA that it
will reduce working hours to legal limits by July 2013, which is a start. The
FLA says this will require Foxconn to recruit tens of thousands of extra
workers.
Compliance will not be easy as long as Apple's existing business model remains
unchanged. The evidence from other big consumer brands suggest that most abuses
of workers particularly when it comes to overtime occur when a factory is under
pressure to meet a sudden surge in demand, often around product launches. The
same appears to be true of Apple, judging by comments made by Auret van
Heerden, FLA's chief executive. Working hours, he said at the presentation of
the audit, were being "blown out" during peak periods like device launches and
the holidays.
The big question is: Can Apple find a way to reengineer its product cycle in
such a way that it does not put the factories it uses under excessive strain
next time it launches a new iPhone or iPad?