Foxconn, a unit of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., employs an estimated 1 million to 1.1 million people in China at a number of huge factory campuses. Foxconn assembles iPads and iPhones for Apple, Xbox 360 game consoles for Microsoft, and other gadgets for companies that include Hewlett-Packard and Dell.
In 2010, there was a rash of suicides at Foxconn's Shenzhen plant. Plant managers installed nets to prevent more people from committing suicide by jumping from the roof.
An explosion in May at the company's plant in Chengdu, China, killed three people and injured 15. A New York Times story published Jan. 26 reported on accidents and long hours in Foxconn factories, based on workers' accounts. Foxconn disputed allegations of back-to-back shifts and crowded living conditions.
Since 2006, Apple has conducted its own audits of working conditions at factories where its devices are assembled. A month ago, it took the additional step of joining the Fair Labor Association, a Washington group of companies and universities focused on improving labor practices.
Apple, the most valuable company in the world, is the first technology firm to become a member of the association. It committed, at the time, to have the association inspect its suppliers, who have pledged full cooperation.
The association plans to interview thousands of employees at several Apple suppliers about working and living conditions. The audits will cover facilities where more than 90 percent of Apple products are assembled.
Its findings and recommendations will begin to be posted at www.fairlabor.org in early March.
Apple's sales have soared even as working conditions at its suppliers have drawn more attention. In the October-to-December quarter, it sold 37 million iPhones and 15 million iPads.
The consumer-activism site Change.org gathered 200,000 signatures for a petition to ask Apple to protect workers, especially around the time of new product releases, when the workload spikes. Activists hand-delivered printouts of the signatures to Apple stores last week, but the group has stopped short of arranging protest gatherings or calling for a boycott.
