Excerpts from 'This American Life' on Mike Daisey: 'Why not just tell us what really happened?'

The transcript of the show reveals more details that Mike Daisey seemingly lied about or misrepresented, forcing This American Life to retract its support for the episode. "Retraction" features host Ira Glass, Mike Daisey, Marketplace reporter Rob Schmitz, whose further factchecking of the episode after its original airing led to the retraction, and Mike Daisey's translator, Cathy, who accompanied Mike on his trip to Foxconn.This led Schmitz to track down Cathy, Daisey's translator.Among other things, Cathy says that they visited three factories, not the ten which Daisey claims. In the broadcast, there are heated moments where host Ira Glass confronts Daisey about his story, such as the one below:

[long pause]

Mike Daisey: I think I was terrified. [breathing]

Ira Glass: Of what?

[long pause]

Mike Daisey: - That---

[long pause]

Mike Daisey: The latter. [Pause] After a certain point, honestly...

[long pause]

Ira Glass: Wait after a certain point, what?

Mike Daisey: Well I started a sentence and then my nerve failed me, I stopped talking.

Ira Glass: [overlapping] Okay.

Mike Daisey: So that's what you saw. Mike Daisey: I can't say it.

Ira Glass: What's the general kind of area that it's in?

Mike Daisey: There was a point.

Mike Daisey: I think you can trust my word in the context of the theater. Mike Daisey: I don't think that label covers the totality of what it is.

Ira Glass: That label - fiction?

http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/16/2878833/excerpts-this-american-life-mike-daisey-transcript/in/2549489

Foxconn, Working Conditions and How Much We All Really Care

We aren’t talking about working conditions in, say, Nebraska. It Isn’t Just Apple. The media seems to think that Apple is the only company that makes use of Foxconn for mass-producing goods. This simply isn’t true; other electronics companies (including Amazon, Microsoft and Sony) work with Foxconn. Because Apple is the biggest company, not only in terms of how much they’re ordering from Foxconn but also in terms of, you know, being the biggest company in the entire world. What goes on in Foxconn isn’t, as a point of fact, Apple’s responsibility. Sure, they have one hell of a big stick to make Foxconn do what it wants, but beyond that Foxconn isn’t part of Apple. Sure, Apple could threaten to leave Foxconn, but what then? Until the rest of the world can match China in terms of sheer export powers, Apple is going to do business with Foxconn. Does It Really, Genuinely Matter?

http://iphone.appstorm.net/general/opinion-general/foxconn-working-conditions-and-how-much-we-all-really-care/

'Mass suicide' protest at Apple manufacturer Foxconn factory

Around 150 Chinese workers at Foxconn, the world's largest electronics manufacturer, threatened to commit suicide by leaping from their factory roof in protest at their working conditions. In the aftermath of the suicides, Foxconn installed safety nets in some of its factories and hired counsellors to help its workers. At Foxconn's flagship plant in Longhua, five per cent of its workers, or 24,000 people, quit every month. The worker said that Foxconn initially refused to negotiate, but that the workers were treated reasonably by the local police and fire service.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9006988/Mass-suicide-protest-at-Apple-manufacturer-Foxconn-factory.html

What we learned from the 'Nightline' report on Foxconn factorie

Nightline has aired its report from Foxconn's factories on ABC. In the report, host Bill Weir speaks directly to factory workers as well as their managers. Foxconn executive Louis Woo said that he would actually like it if Apple demanded that the company double the pay of factory employees. Foxconn produces 300k iPad camera modules per day. Workers make $1.78 an hour. Apple paid $250,000 to join the FLA, and is paying for its audit

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/22/2815654/abc-nightline-apple-foxconn-factories/in/2549489

Apple to allow third-party environmental inspections, could begin as early as March

ABC visits Foxconn factories for a first-hand look at working conditions

On Tuesday night, ABC will broadcast a special Nightline episode filmed at Foxconn's facilities in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, exploring the working conditions at the company's factories. Overtime opportunities and pay are scarce, resulting in many people coming and going, however Foxconn jobs remain highly sought after. ABC shows masses of people gathered outside Foxconn's plant, looking to get a job inside.

While acknowledging that Foxconn, China's biggest employer after the country's government, produces consumer electronics for all sorts of brands — including Sony, Dell, HP, Motorola, and Microsoft — ABC's focus seems firmly fixed on Apple's relationship with Foxconn, which does appear to be more active than the other companies.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/20/2811386/abc-nightline-foxconn-factories-apple-products/in/2549489

Apple-requested Foxconn factory inspection revealing 'tons of issues,' FLA boss says

Auret van Heerden, CEO of the Fair Labor Association, has issued some damning language today directed at Foxconn near the conclusion of an audit of factory conditions that had been requested by apple several days ago. In the meantime, the FLA is expected to meet with Foxconn and presumably, Apple today for a "preliminary" report on its findings.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/17/2806976/apple-foxconn-fla-tons-of-issues/in/2549489

Apple factory inspectors put positive spin on Foxconn conditions, but watchdogs are skepti

Auret van Heerden, the president of the Fair Labor Association (or FLA) has issued a statement today ahead of the organization's expected final report on the working conditions at Apple’s top eight suppliers, most notably Foxconn. van Heerden's remarks pertain to Foxconn following a visit of several days' to the factory. Preliminarily, van Heerden says, the factories are "first-class."

In January, Apple voluntarily joined the FLA, an independent, non-profit organization which conducts random checks of factories and then issues reports on the working conditions found there, and then a few days ago announced it had requested a voluntary inspection of the factories. Apple's joining of the FLA didn't arrive without criticism, and Wired reported that in fact, the FLA is a somewhat controversial organization. The FLA's plan is to send 30 of its representatives to two different Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, each with about 100,000 workers.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/15/2800394/apple-factory-inspectors-offer-positive-spin-on-foxconn-conditions/in/2549489

Tim Cook promises monthly reports on Apple supplier working conditions

Speaking to the underage concern, Cook called the practice "abhorrent" and "extremely rare" in its supply chain, adding that its his top priority to eliminate it entirely. "If we find a supplier that intentionally hires underage labor it's a firing offense," he said. The Fair Labor Association audit is still reportedly ongoing. Apple takes working conditions very, very seriously, and we have for a very long time. Whether the workers are in Europe or Asia or the United States, we care about every worker. I realize that supply chain is complex... and the issue surrounding this is complex. Apple suppliers must live up to this to do business with Apple.

An excerpt from his speech:

"In terms of problems we're working to fix, you can read the details on our website, but I can tell you that no one in our industry is doing more to improving working conditions than Apple." [Constantly auditing, looking for problems, finding problems, fixing problems. It's extremely rare in our supply chain, but our top priority is to eliminate it totally. We've done that with our final assembly and are working on down the supply chain. If we find a supplier that intentionally hires underage labor it's a firing offense. "Continuing to focusing on the problems endemic to our industry like excessive overtime. "We know that people have a very high expectation of Apple.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/14/2798303/apples-tim-cook-chinese-working-conditions-monthly-reports-fla/in/2549489

Foxconn factories under inspection by the Fair Labor Association, at Apple's request

At Apple's request, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) will begin conducting audits of the company's assembly suppliers, including Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China. The first inspections began this Monday morning, led by FLA president Auret van Heerden, at the facility known as Foxconn City in Shenzhen. When all is said and done, the FLA will have reviewed more than 90 percent of Apple's manufacturing facilities — the question now is what will Apple change in response to these reports.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/13/2794905/foxconn-factories-under-inspection-by-the-fair-labor-association-at/in/2549489

Foxconn attacked by hacker group, internal information released

9to5Mac is reporting that a group calling itself SwaggSec was behind the alleged compromise, and was able to gain access to Foxconn's internal networks thanks to an exploit in an un-patched copy of Internet Explorer that was being used by a Foxconn employee. 9to5Mac was able to confirm the login information worked on more than one Foxconn server, though access has since been cut off.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/9/2786318/foxconn-hacked-internal-information-released/in/2549489

Apple Store protests on Thursday will push for ethical worker treatment

While the organizers are aware that Apple is hardly the only company to contract with Foxconn and similar companies, the petitions focus both on Apple's iconic status and its extreme attention to detail. Change.org petition organizer Mark Shields, for example, says that he's singling out Apple because it's "supposed to think different." While Apple has already joined the Fair Labor Association, the Change.org petition asks Apple to publicly release the FLA's findings, including the names of suppliers that have violated standards.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/8/2785285/apple-store-foxconn-factory-worker-condition-protest

In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad

Apple is not the only electronics company doing business within a troubling supply system. Current and former Apple executives, moreover, say the company has made significant strides in improving factories in recent years. Apple has a supplier code of conduct details standards on labor issues, safety protections and other topics. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.”

Apple was provided with extensive summaries of this article, but the company declined to comment. Factories in Chengdu manufacture products for hundreds of companies. Inside, workers were building Apple’s latest, potentially greatest product: the iPad.

Other companies had created codes of conduct to police their suppliers. It was time, Apple decided, to follow suit. Apple audited that factory, the company’s first such inspection, and ordered improvements. Those audits have found consistent violations of Apple’s code of conduct, according to summaries by the company. Last year, the company conducted 229 audits. Apple has found violations in hundreds of audits, but fewer than 15 suppliers have been terminated for transgressions since 2007, according to former Apple executives.

“Once the deal is set and Foxconn becomes an authorized Apple supplier, Apple will no longer give any attention to worker conditions or anything that is irrelevant to its products,” said Mr. Li, the former Foxconn manager. Apple’s efforts have spurred some changes. Then, Apple’s requests start.

Once again, aluminum dust was the cause, according to interviews and Apple’s most recent supplier responsibility report.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Apple supplier employee describes working conditions

Apple and Foxconn have both been on the hot seat over reports of the supplier's poor factory conditions. Working at a Foxconn factory in southwestern China, an 18-year-old student named Miss Chen (her name has been changed to protect her identity) told CNN about the conditions she faces each day.

Thought of primarily as an Apple supplier, Foxconn also builds products for Dell, HP, Microsoft, and other U.S. tech companies. In 2010 a rash of worker suicides at the Foxconn plant in Shenzhen, China, triggered concerns between Apple and other tech companies. Last month a group of Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide over a pay dispute, an issue that was eventually settled.

Both Foxconn and Apple have conveyed similar messages of taking the situation seriously.

When asked by CNN why humans are doing machine-like work at Foxconn, she said simply "humans are cheaper.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57372516-37/apple-supplier-employee-describes-working-conditions/

Foxconn what is the outrage about?

My First encounter with topic of Foxconn and what it is and what they where doing was through this documentry from the Aljazeera show Activate. Apple productes are one of the most popular products arounf the world and how they are made have been found to be inhumane. Through this film I was able to inform myself on the issue at hand. The working conditions at Foxconn, the manufacturer of Apple Products, are unbearable. As i learned in the film there were several suicides in one month due to working conditions at the factories. Workers have also experienced decapitation as well as diseases and have to go to the hospital. Learning all these facts really outraged me about the topic and has made me want to explore it more.

Here is the link to the documentry:

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/activate/2011/09/201194144739197637.html