This unabashed love, however, has made society turn a blind eye to the means by which these devices are built. These alleged champions of progressive innovation have taken advantage of every lax labor law, every questionable manufacturing regulation, and every compliant regime to build as many devices as possible at the lowest cost. The well-documented working conditions of their infamous factories and warehouses are all the proof we need.
Apple Angers Activists for Chinese Workers
As perhaps the largest contributor to our obsession with consumer tech, Apple has enjoyed more than enough success with its line of iPhones and Macbooks. Particularly in the US, the Cupertino-based tech giant has influenced the course of commercial history on more than one occasion with their sleek, well-designed devices that are as easy to use as they are stylish. So, how does Apple produce so many iPhones, iPads, and Macbooks with precision and style? By manufacturing all their devices in China. China is famous for lax regulations, particularly when it comes to labor, and Apple has been quick to take advantage. Bloomberg interviewed workers from a Catcher Technology manufacturing complex, one of many factories dedicated to producing Apple products. The thorough report consisted of responses that make the building sound like the setting of a dystopian sci-fi movie rather than an actual manufacturing plant in China.
“One has to constantly work without stopping.”“I asked for the earplugs many times but they didn’t have any. The loud noise of ‘zah-zah’ made my head ache and dizzy.”“After a few hours, the gloves swell, and get soft, like they’ve been corroded. The fingers would be exposed.”“In the first few days of work, when I opened the cabinet, the smell made me nauseous.”
Despite plenty of opposition from workers’ rights activists, like China Labor Watch, Apple and Catcher Technology have investigated the claims on their own and found no code of conduct infractions to speak of, which let’s be honest is pretty hard to believe, particularly when pictures of the living quarters, like the one you see on the right, paint a notably under-regulated picture of everyone’s favorite smartphone developer.
UN Steps in on Samsung’s Working Conditions
Samsung is the global leader in the smartphone market, and for good reason. Their heavy-duty Android devices are almost always the first to feature the newest technology, from portrait mode cameras to waterproof casings, and they are lorded as a prophetic company with huge aspirations and even more resources to back it up. Unfortunately, they’ve got a problem listening to women, and it’s not in the way you’d expect. There’s no denying that tech has a serious diversity problem, particularly when it comes to the gender gap. Women are vastly underrepresented in pretty much every level of the industry, despite countless initiatives to combat the problem. But Samsung has taken this tone-deaf attitude to a whole new level by ignoring female workers in Vietnamese factories, where 50% of Samsung phones are manufactured. The International Persistent Organic Pollutant Elimination Network (IPEN) conducted confidential interviews with 45 women workers from two factories in Vietnam responsible for manufacturing Samsung devices. In addition to flagrant violations like not providing work contracts to employees, IPEN found that the working conditions are terrible, even for pregnant women. Focusing on the health consequences of these working conditions is the key to understanding exactly how bad this situation is. As a result of these working conditions, all 45 women reported that miscarriages are “very normal if they are young.” Rather than address the problem, Samsung has opted for denial and intimidation. There are multiple reports of the South Korea-based tech company threatening workers for talking to the press and even attempting to suppress the IPEN report mentioned above. They were so aggressive in their attempts to silence their employees that the UN stepped in to insist Samsung explain itself. Samsung profusely apologized and promised to do better. Sure, Samsung. Sure.
The Tricky Issue of Ethical Minerals
Manufacturing isn’t the only problem when it comes to the working conditions put forth in the tech industry. The minerals used to make smartphones, 4K TVs, e-readers, and everything in between are far from locally sourced, and the most of them need to be mined from more mineral-rich areas, most notably the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Unfortunately, the DRC and the surrounding regions are infamous for utilizing child labor in their mines, and tech companies haven’t done enough to separate their operations from these problems. With 3,000 mines in the eastern part of the DRC alone, it is understandably difficult to keep track of which minerals are ethically farmed and which ones are “conflict minerals.” Still, tech companies have only just started hiring teams and installing softwares to track exactly where their minerals are coming from. Even that though hasn’t been able to completely solve the problem, as these tech companies continue to treat the symptom rather than the disease. In the hopes of avoiding the problem rather than solving it, tech companies have gone in search of new sources of minerals in different parts of the world. The only problem is that the DRC is far from the only nation taking part in these less than legal work practices, and focusing their attention elsewhere is only going to make the problem more complicated. The reality is that all these problems could be solved with a little more foresight and a little less greed. Tech companies are now infamous for their “profit first, ask questions later” mentality, and it seems to be costing them more money in the long run. If these tech giants want to keep their “progressive innovators” membership cards, they’re going to need to start thinking with their heads instead of their wallets.
