Apple seems to be facing sweatshop allegations as reports by the Mail detail worker conditions at it’s sprawling Longhua plant in Southern China.
Housing an incredible 200,000 workers who earn as little as $34 bucks a month, minus food and rent to live in 100 person dormitories, workers toil through 15-hour days to make the ubiquitous Apple iPod.
Macworld Daily News made an online synopsis of the report as the original report, “iPod City,” isn’t available online. But the allegations are stunning nonetheless.
The report furthers by saying that the iPods are made mainly by female workers because they are considered to be more trustworthy than men. Though what one would do with an iPod if you’re only making 34 bucks a month, minus half for food and rent, is unclear. Sure you could sell it, but who could afford to buy it? Even then you’d need a PC to do anything with it. Also, I didn’t know that poverty and gender were related to one another.
Making the “big bucks,” workers at another factory make iPod shuffle’s in Suzhou, Shanghai. There they make $68 bucks a day, almost twice as much, though probably the same in purchasing power considering the cost of living near Shanghai.
Either way, for those of you who own an iPod or an iPod shuffle, maybe you’ll appreciate it just a little more knowing the sweat and toil that went into making it. And as for the rest of us, maybe think twice about supporting “iPod City.”
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There paying these people too much money these ipods are still expensive as heck.
“as for the rest of us maybe think twice about supporting “iPod City.”
I wonder how much people making Sony music player and Creative music pla yers make ? Probably similar to what they get paid for making iPod. It probably applies to most of goods produced there.
Shoes we wear are mostly made in asia and they probably get paided less then making iPod
“maybe you’ll appreciate it just a little more knowing the sweat and toil that went into making it”
newsflash:
this is how globalization works didnt something like this surface back when sony decided to ship all manufacturing off to southeast asia? OH HOW THE WORLD HAS CHANGED!