SWRK 611- Contemporary Social Policy Casey Bohrman Stand Out, Chinese Government!

Yumeng ZUO 2/1/2012

The report Human Costs are Built into an iPad has caught millions of eyes. While most of the comments criticize Apple for its lack of corporate social responsibility and neglecting the workers human rights: little attention has been given to the responsibility that Chinese government should be assuming. When the Chinese government is trying to attract new investments, the low cost of labor is often emphasized. However, should low-cost labor take the cost of lives and basic human rights? Government should supervise the protection of workers human rights. Workers assembling iPads, iPhones and other products often work in abusive and sometimes deadly conditions (New York Times, 2012). Apple factories run 24 hours a day. Each worker is required to work 12 hours per day, 6 days per week. Workers must choose shifts from 7 am to 7 pm, or 7 pm to 7 am. Although they work 72 hours, they can only receive 112 dollars before tax. In addition, child labor was found in Apple factories. These facts are against the Chinese labor law, which states the maximum of working hour per week is 56 hours and hiring child labor is illegal. However, no action has ever been taken by government to protect these workers. It has been proven that the Chinese government fails to protect workers human rights, as well as covering over the facts that workers are being exploited. Standing twelve-hours at work makes a lot of workers not able to walk after work. Moreover, the materials and work environment that workers face everyday are poisonous. Back in 2011, 137 workers were found injured in the nerve system due to the material used to clean iPhone screens. The material is poisonous. However, these accidents did not draw the attention of government to take action. Even before the May 2011 explosion happened, a non-profit organization had warned the factories to strength the safety issues. Nevertheless, the tragedy still happened. We must ask ourselves why did the explosion of last spring, resulting in four peoples deaths, just get reported after ten months. Does the government cover it? Should the government be blamed for its control of news and media? Now that the working conditions are so dangerous, why are there still so many workers insisting to work for Apple? The lack of social welfare in China definitely should be blamed. For example, workers who stay farming at home earn as little as 20 dollars per year. For these people who live below the poverty line, the government provides an average of 130 dollars each month, depending on the specific areas policies. It is impossible for them to afford children going to school. An undergraduates tuition, which is 1100 dollars per year, can cost almost all of the familys annual income. So even though the workers are suffering in these factories, they have to stay working to afford their family. And the money they receive is a large amount, compared to how much they can earn at home.

To boil it down, the Chinese government has to take the responsibility to protect workers human rights. The human rights should always be a priority. Moreover, the underdeveloped social welfare attention requires immediate attention. While the wealth gap between underdeveloped areas and developed areas continues to be a constant problem, more attention on the social policy and welfare needs should be addressed.