Apple Petitioners Tell Firm to Protect Chinese Workers

The website Change.org allows anyone to start a petition on any issue – and attract a global following. Apple is the target of one massive petition, as owners of iPads and iPhones respond to a New York Times reports about horrific conditions in factories that manufacture Apple products. The petition “praises Apple's commitment to allow the non-profit Fair Labor Association to monitor the suppliers, but urges the company to publish the results with details of where each identified violation occurred,” reports BBC News. Human rights violations in factories are always a public-relations disaster, and Apple's chief executive has been forced to defend the company: Its recent Supplier Responsibility Progress Report notes that Apple “conducted 229 audits throughout its supply chain in 2011… an 80% increase on 2010.” Apple “tends to be singled out,” BBC concludes, because of its huge profits and reliance on outsourcing. Change.org lists victories, including Bank of America backtracking on a debit-card fee and convincing the South African Parliament to start a taskforce on ending “corrective rape.” – YaleGlobal