Cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/43530586

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Chinese factory staff assembling Apple’s latest iPhone continue to face precarious conditions, working many hours of overtime, suffering wage delays and discrimination against ethnic minorities, according to a leading labour rights group.

China Labor Watch (CLW) found that more than half of the estimated 200,000 workers employed during peak season at the world’s largest iPhone factory run by Foxconn in Zhengzhou are seasonal staff known as “dispatch workers”. This is despite a Chinese law capping the use of such staff at 10 per cent of a company’s workforce.

US-based CLW, which specialises in undercover investigations of Chinese factories, also found that dispatch workers faced staggered payment schedules that withhold part of their wages to deter them from quitting during peak production.

These staff were not entitled to the same benefits as full-time employees, such as paid sick leave, paid holiday and social insurance that includes medical coverage and pension contributions. CLW also claimed that there is systematic discrimination in hiring certain ethnic minorities and pregnant women.

[…]

"Despite Apple’s repeated pledges to improve conditions over the past decade, our investigation finds that core labour issues remain,” said Li Qiang, founder of CLW and author of the report released on Thursday.

"Apple’s supply chain continues to depend on a vast, disposable workforce.”

[…]

Many of the workers interviewed added that conditions compared favourably with those of other local manufacturers, citing air conditioning, hot water, recreational facilities and canteen subsidies.

An economic downturn in China and rising youth unemployment have narrowed options for jobseekers. A 23-year-old who trained as a Chinese teacher said she had worked at Foxconn for two months: “If I can’t find another job, I might come back.”

But two of the people who spoke said Foxconn’s recruitment platform, which the agencies use to upload CVs, rejects applications from ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Huis, who are not local to Henan.

[…]

One worker who had been at the plant for more than a month said that she typically worked two and a half hours of overtime each day, six or seven days a week. “Some managers have bad attitudes,” she said. “We work hard, but they keep pushing and squeezing us.”