Undercover Journalist Bares It All on How Work was at Foxconn’s iPhone Plant

While media men, journalists and tech bloggers are anticipating for the live coverage of Apple’s big event today at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center, a news report on how worst the work condition is in making the iPhone 5 device is somehow circulating on the other side of the world. 



Shanghai Evening Post published an insider report right on the eve of the unveiling of Apple’s iPhone 5 on what it is like to work in Tai Yuan factory. In an article by CNET, a reporter from Shanghai Evening Post went on undercover as a factory worker in Foxconn’s Tai Yuan factory. He then wrote what life was while working in the said factory for ten days on a night shift—that includes working from 12am down to 6am without a break. The reporter was in charge of making iPhone’s  backplate in four points using an oil-based paint.

His article was translated and summarized by MIC Gadget. And here is what he got to say about his job:

By my own calculations, I have to mark five iPhone plates every minute, at least. For every 10 hours, I have to accomplish 3,000 iPhone 5 back plates. There are total 4 production lines in charge of this process, 12 workers in every line. Each line can produce 36,000 iPhone 5 back plates in half a day, this is scary. I finally stopped working at 7 a.m. We are asked to gather again after work. The supervisor shout out loud in front of us, “Who wants to rest early at 5 a.m.!? We are all here to earn money! Let’s work harder!” I was thinking who on earth wants to work two extra hours overtime for only mere 27 yuan (USD $4)!?

Fair Labor Association (FLA) had already investigated all facilities in Foxconn after Apple CEO Tim Cook asked them and later found out that indeed working conditions in there is terrible, as terrible as excess overtime and low wages. Foxconn then agreed with FLA to reduce hours and raise their workers’ pay but it seems like Tai Yuan factory is not adopting what Foxconn has agreed to. It’s not just Foxconn though, but China as a whole has been reported in practicing worst work conditions and even child labor which has captured the attention of international groups.

So just think of this, every time you see a label "Made in China", think how many employers and even children were forced to go on overtime with low wages or even none just to get those products on shelves right on time. You're way luckier than you thought.

News Source: CNET

Image Credit: ZDNET