Boycott Apple until it fixes its China labor problem

In the space of a few months, Apple has gone from being the recipient of cloying, over-the-top adulation when co-founder Steve Jobs died to being the victim of furious attacks for its labor practices in China. I’m neither a fanboy nor an Apple basher, and at the risk of sounding like a wimp, I have to say that neither emotional extreme is justified.

The China issue arose again on Tuesday when ABC’s “Nightline” aired a 17-minute segment based on a visit to the Foxconn factory in Shenzen, China, where many Apple products are made and where workers have been known to jump off the roof in despair. (For the record, the Foxconn factories in China are owned by Taiwan’s Hon Hai. Taiwan doesn’t tolerate such working conditions in its own factories.) Unlike the hard-hitting New York Times series that ignited the issue, ABC’s coverage was predictably superficial, consisting mostly of walks down sparkling factory aisles where young workers bent over benches assembling circuit boards and other components.

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I’ve been both a reporter and an industrial worker during my checkered career, and I can tell you that strolling through a production line doesn’t tell you much. Interviewing a worker while his or her boss is watching tells you even less.

For example, the Times wrote about an explosion at another Foxconn plant in Chengdu, China, caused when a cloud of aluminum dust ignited, killing four workers. You simply can’t see dangerous conditions like that during an escorted tour. A reporter with no experience working in industry doesn’t even know what to look for.

I’m not bashing Bill Weir, the reporter who led the “Nightline” coverage. Showing the faces of those workers is a good thing, and by its nature television reporting is limited in what it can show. I’m just pointing out that the segment, which many of had eagerly anticipated, didn’t do much to change the terms of the debate about Apple’s labor policies.

We already knew that conditions at the Foxconn factory in Shenzen, China, are dehumanizing, to say the least. We also knew that for many Chinese workers, the factory — as tough as it is — offers a big step up from grinding rural poverty; in fact, Foxconn pays its workers 20 percent more than the national average in China. But that’s a low bar.

ABC did tell us one important fact: Apple paid $250,000 to join the Fair Labor Association, which is conducting a well-publicized audit of conditions at Foxconn. In addition, Apple is paying for the audit, which will give me pause when I read the final report. What also gives me pause is the fact that the FLA calls the Foxconn plant that Apple uses “first class.” If so, I shudder to think what a second-class plant in China — the kind of facilities where much of our consumer electronics are made — is like.

Apple: Big enough to make a difference

The issue remains: Is Apple any worse than its competitors, such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, that also use Foxconn as its contract manufacturer? I doubt it. It’s worth noting that Apple is now releasing the names of its suppliers, while other companies have not, and it’s conducting audits of labor conditions, something no other American maker of consumer electronics is doing.

A colleague of mine calls those companies “cowards,” and I have to agree. I’m sure they’re hoping to gain some competitive advantage if consumer anger increases and begins to hurt Apple sales, which have been growing at their expense.

That said, I still believe we consumers should consider a boycott of Apple. Not because Apple is any worse than Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Nintendo, or pretty much anyone who sells us electronics — Apple should be the target because it is a special company. Simply put, it has the clout and the cachet with consumers to make a difference that would be beyond the reach of others we might choose to boycott. Apple is obviously Foxconn’s most important customer in terms of volume and profile. Would Foxconn be able to resist serious demands from Apple to clean up its act or face severe penalties? I doubt it.

“We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on,” said one former Apple executive, who, like others, spoke to the Times on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements. “Why? Because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.” Apple hasn’t made the move, so even if it has better standards than others, they’re not what they could — or should — be.

Is an iPad worth a life?

Apple has become an iconic American company whose brand equity is constantly boosted by millions and millions of dollars of free publicity. Would the death of any CEO other than Steve Jobs have received even a tenth of that attention? Of course not. Like it or not, Apple has to live up to its status.

What’s more, our dollars have made Apple the most valuable (measured by market capitalization) in the country. We have a right to use our purchasing power to influence the companies we do business with. And Apple can afford it. The company earns more than $400,000 annually from the labor of each employee. If that number decreased to, say, $350,000 to clean up its act, would Apple’s shareholders go broke? And keep in mind that the Chinese labor contributes to just a percent of an iPad’s retail value, so the price to Apple’s customers to absorb the cost of doing the right thing would be small.

Could a boycott work? It could. American consumers helped put an end to Nike’s use of child labor in Southeast Asia. But that would take a real effort on our part. When interviewed by the Times, another former Apple executive said that what American consumers care about is price.

He’s right. But I’d like to think we also care about the lives of the people who make the products we enjoy so much. I’ve been eagerly waiting for the “iPhone 5” to debut, so I can finally upgrade my aging iPhone 3G S. Would I pay an extra $25 or so to buy it if the extra cost reflected improved working conditions at Foxconn? I would — ditto for the “iPad 3” expected to be announced on March 7.

Until Apple convinces me it is doing everything it can to markedly improve those conditions, I won’t buy either, at any price. How about you?

I welcome your comments, tips, and suggestions. Post them here (Add a comment) so that all our readers can share them, or reach me at bill.snyder@sbcglobal.net. Follow me on Twitter at BSnyderSF.

This article, “Boycott Apple until it fixes its China labor problem,” was originally published by InfoWorld.com. Read more of Bill Snyder’s Tech’s Bottom Line blog and follow the latest technology business developments at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.