Apple slaps Pegatron for Chinese labor violations

Apple claims it has stopped giving "new business" to Pegatron after a Financial Times investigation unearthed labor law violations at Pegatron's Chinese operations. The journalists found that thousands of Chinese student interns illegally worked overtime and night shifts to assemble iPhones.

Students interviewed by the paper say schools forced them to intern at Pegatron, even though the assembly work at Pegatron is of little relevance to their degree, such as graphics design or computer science.

“Pegatron isn’t like other factories. They will force you to work overtime: 12 hours per day,” said one former worker, adding that this was to make up for rush orders or staff quitting.

Until last month, thousands of student interns had assembled iPhones at Pegatron’s Kunshan plant and illegally worked overtime and night shifts, according to former interns and workers at the plant. Chinese government regulations prevent students from interning in factories if the work is unrelated to their studies.

Apple says it placed Pegatron on probation and will not give the Taiwan-based manufacturing giant new business until they complete all of the corrective actions required. More at ARS Technica.