The U.S. technology company Apple recently released its human rights policy for the first time on the same day that videos of new workers being humiliated at its Chinese factory were released. Human rights groups say that Apple’s human rights policy is well stated, but lacks enforcement mechanisms. Apple’s policy, which continues to prioritize Chinese law over international human rights norms, has been criticized as “very disappointing.
Apple’s first-ever human rights policy was overshadowed by a video of Chinese workers bending over on bended knee to collect work permits that had been thrown on the ground.
In the video, newly hired workers pick up work permits at Apple’s Jiangsu Kunshan Shishuo electronics factory on Sept. 4, and are told to pick them up one by one as workers are named and thrown all over the floor.
The next day, the Kunshan Shishuo electronics factory, which makes cell phone parts for Apple, issued an apology, saying, “The staff issued employee IDs in an inappropriate manner, causing the new recruits to be disrespected, and …… once again expresses its sincere apologies.”
“This is a great insult and disrespect to workers,” the New York-based China Labor Watch criticized on Tuesday (Sept. 8).
The insult came on the same day that Apple’s first-ever human rights policy said it was extending its policy of respect for human rights to its supply chain “to ensure that every workplace provides a safe and respectful environment for everyone.”
On Tuesday, China Labor Watch said in a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, “We have also received complaints about worker abuse at the Kunshan factory.”
The complaints include violating the one-day-a-week rule, forcing workers to work on their breaks, delaying the end of work, starting work on Sundays, delaying bonus payments, not allowing student workers to leave the factory, and not allowing workers to quit as required.
Apple’s human rights policy outlines a commitment to human rights and freedom of expression, “In accordance with the United Nations’ International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, we are strongly committed to respecting internationally recognized human rights in our business operations.”
Matt Bailey, director of PEN’s Digital Freedom Project, while acknowledging the literally well-written and comprehensive policy statement, expressed caution and called it a “symbolic gesture” for choosing to release the policy before the long Labor Day weekend, which itself has some limitations.
Fortune magazine said that two-fifths of Apple’s shareholders unsuccessfully asked the company to uphold freedom of speech around the world and issue an annual executive report.
Michael A. Santoro, a professor of management and entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University’s College of Business and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Business and Human Rights, said Apple has been criticized by activists and human rights NGOs because the company removed virtual network (VPN) software applications from its software application store, so-called wall-climbing software that helps users avoid China’s “illegal” cyber attacks. Internet censorship, and giving them access to foreign news media.
While Apple’s human rights policy says it will adhere to higher standards of international human rights norms, it then goes on to say that where there is a conflict between the laws of the country in which it is located and international values, it will take precedence over the laws of the country in which it is located, and that “where there is a conflict, we respect national laws while seeking to respect internationally recognized principles of human rights.”
“This is very disappointing,” said Santoro. “Admittedly, this is an extremely difficult subject that Apple is facing, …… I mean, they clearly haven’t done their homework, and they clearly haven’t spent enough time thinking through the implications of the policy.”
Apple is most criticized precisely for its capitulation to Beijing’s policy of human rights abuses. Apple, at Beijing’s request, bans applications the Chinese government doesn’t like: “Apple has removed more than 1,000 ‘virtual private network’ (VPN) applications from Chinese application stores this year at the request of the Chinese government. And VPNs are critical for vulnerable human rights defenders to avoid censorship, surveillance, and political retribution.” SumOfUs, an online human rights advocacy group, said.
Last year, Apple also removed “hkmap.live,” a mapping app used by Hong Kong protesters, from its Hong Kong App Store, a day after Chinese state media criticized the company. But the app’s developers say the software contributes to public safety by allowing users to target and avoid confrontations between protesters and police.
Bailey, director of the PEN Digital Project, called Apple’s human rights policy “a lack of commitment to public accountability. The policy statement, he said, lacks three things: “a roadmap of actions or reforms to be taken, a timeline, and, in some cases, how will Apple make decisions on issues in specific situations?
Li Qiang, executive director of China Labor Watch, said Apple has two human rights models, “one for the U.S. public, some pressure from consumers, shareholders, and even from politics, and the other for the actual human rights violations that occur in China.”
China Labor Watch has published 15 investigative reports on Apple’s suppliers in China over the past nine years, ranging from Foxconn worker suicides to poor labor conditions at Changshuo’s suppliers.
Li Qiang said that based on years of monitoring labor conditions at Apple’s foundries in China, they have found that “Apple hides the truth in the process, actually pretends not to see it, and if we find out about it, we let the media report it, and then Apple says we have this problem, we have to urge the supplier to improve, and then shifts the blame to the supplier. Apple is a profit-seeking company, and so far, there’s no real independent organization that works with Apple to really monitor labor conditions.”
Yang Jinxia, founder of New York for Human Rights in Hong Kong, said, “Multinational companies like Apple have made a lot of money in China, they should put back a little bit of their conscience to balance their business with the CCP, is this the only way to go or not?”
Voice of America’s request for comment on Apple’s announcement that it will release a new 5G iPhone 12 on Sept. 15 remained unanswered at the time of writing.
Apple, which will release its new 5G iPhone 12 on Sept. 15, was down 6.7 percent at $112.80 at Tuesday’s close, but its market capitalization was $1.93 trillion.
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