Pegatron promises to change things following BBC report on abuse of workers

Following BBC reports that accused contract manufacturer Pegatron of taking advantage of workers on the Apple iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 6 Plus assembly line, the  company promised to change its ways. Earlier today, Pegatron issued a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange promising to investigate the claims made by the BBC. The latter sent undercover workers into factories and discovered that work shifts often exceeded 12 hours with no overtime pay. One undercover reporter says that he worked for 18 straight days without rest.

Hidden cameras smuggled into the factory recorded images of exhausted assembly line workers falling asleep. Some assembly lines were made up completely of napping workers. Still, Apple executive Jeffrey Williams says that the company has achieved a 93% success rate in preventing workers from logging more than 60 hours of work in a single week. Last year, Apple managed to achieve a 95% compliance rate, according to its 2014 Progress Report.

Apple also is investigating the claims made in the BBC report. The tech titan says that it is "deeply offended" by the content of the report. Apple's Williams says that the BBC failed to pass along to the public, certain details that Apple provided the broadcaster.

Over the years, there have been questions over how both Pegatron and its rival Foxconn have treated factory workers. Besides trying to make sure that its suppliers are not overworking employees, Apple is trying to prevent the contract manufacturers from exploiting student workers.


source: Apple, AppleInsider