Fair Labor Association begins independent audits of Foxconn factories

Tallahassee, FL 2/14/12 (StreetBeat) – Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) announced on Monday that independent third-party inspections of its final assembly plants in China have officially begun in "Foxconn City." The factory in Shenzhen is one of several facilities that will be audited by the Fair Labor Association, a labor rights activist group that admitted Apple as a member in January.

Factories owned by Foxconn, Quanta, and Pegatron—responsible for final assembly of over 90 percent of Apple's computers, iPhones, iPads, and other accessories—will be inspected by a team of labor rights experts led by FLA President Auret van Heerden. The team will reportedly interview employees, inspect safety equipment and worker dormitories, and examine all available documentation on worker safety, wages, and working hours. Apple's suppliers have reportedly agreed to cooperate fully with FLA's inspection team.

Apple said that the results of the independent audits of Foxconn facilities should be available on the FLA website in early March, while audits of Quanta and Pegatron facilities should be published in "late Spring."

The FLA inspections come shortly after details of working conditions in China sparked a controversy in light of Apple's soaring profits. Apple first began dealing with workers' rights issues when a 2006 investigation revealed widespread abuse of China's labor laws; since then, Apple has performed its own yearly audits and publishes the results in a public report. The company announced its partnership with the Fair Labor Association when it released the results of its 2011 audit in January.

"We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we've asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement on Monday. "The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports."

Despite the audits, labor activists believe Apple should do more than try to make sure factories are operating within Chinese law. "Although we think Apple is among the best in terms of auditing, we still think that Apple can do more because it is the most profitable company in the world," activist Li Qiang, founder of China Labor Watch, said. "As soon as Apple is willing to give a small percentage of its profits, the workers can benefit a lot. But Apple is not willing to do that."

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