China Labor Watch: New Apple suppliers even worse than Foxconn

In recent years Foxconn has been under scrutiny over poor work conditions, but it appears the situation at other major Chinese electronics manufacturers isn't much better. US-based worker welfare monitor China Labor Watch decided to take a look into Pegatron, which is Apple's second largest supplier.

Pegatron is a Taiwanese company that was spun off from parent company Asustek in 2010, it operates factories in Shanghai and Suzhou that employs 70,000 Chinese workers. After inspection, China Labor Watch discovered that work conditions at these plants are "even worse" than Foxconn's.

The group claims to have discovered numerous health and safety violations, poor living conditions in dorms, unpaid overtime, and the coercion of workers by withholding their pay or identity cards.

Its latest report also accuses Apple of failing to treat abuses with the same urgency that it applies to lapses in product quality. For its part, Apple has responded by highlighting the fact that it has audited Pegatron facilities 15 times in the last six years, and that a recent survey found that Pegatron employees were working an average of 46 hours per week. It also said it had dealt promptly with earlier instances of ID cards being withheld, but admitted that China Labor Watch's report includes "claims that are new to us" and that will need to be investigated "thoroughly."

Source: Engadget