The computer or device you're writing this comment from was made in similar factories, so unless you would like to throw away pretty much 100% of the electronics you own, you're no better than those you criticize.

Apple products are only a few of the many, many products made in Foxconn.

It's not about throwing it all away. It's about corporations NOT engaging with other corporations - foreign or domestic - who utilize slave labor - and/or who do so to skirt the environmental and labor laws of this country.

I've seen vine and vine about Romney and obama and jobs and the economy and how China is taking all of our jobs...blah, blah, blah. Really? CHINA didn't take our jobs. OUR US Companies EXPORTED the jobs for three reasons:

1> CHEAP SLAVE LABOR

2> They don't have to adhere to the EPA laws of the US. (You may want to Google "China pollution")

3> They don't have to adhere to the labor laws (OSHA) of the US.

Foxconn is the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer responsible for much of the current production and assembly of Apple’s popular line of products as well as a wide variety of popular tech toys ranging from laptops to gaming consoles.

When will you uninformed idiots wake up to the fact that Apple is not the only company having things made there. Get a clue haters

Yes, the corporations exported the jobs to China to increase their profit margins; however, they would have no profit margins if the CONSUMERS refused to buy these products. We the people do have power. Boycott companies that use slave labor.

Thanks for causing those riots in China you crazy YANKS aka iphone knuckleheads :)

Apple, Microsoft, Sony etc. and the salve labor, with guard towers and sleeping quarters for workers, are creating a massive outcry for Unions in China. It's only a matter of time before any people anywhere demand to be treated fairly and given basic Human Rights. America fought so hard for them and Corporations here are slowly and not too subtly taking them away again. Conservatives seem to side with Corps all the time. We can learn a lesson from the Chinese of today, if we can't read our own history of our past....Corporations want their Record Profits at the expense of Human Rights. Stand strong for our own rights.

Lean on your Congress people to bring back the Legislation which did not pass last July, to Penalize Corps who hire overseas and reward for returning to the Mainland US. They might not make Record Profits but America will work again to survive and ordinary profits will give them a very very good living. Time to get real here. This is too important. WE Need TO Work.

NAFTA and Trade agreements for Outsourcing is the KILLER.

If people refused to buy what was not made here, things would be made here. Don't blame everybody else when you own the very stuff that took your job or is putting it in danger. But "buy American" rings hollow because by and large, it is impossible to do. Cars would be a good place to start. But many of their parts are made overseas.

lynseypug

Yes, the corporations exported the jobs to China to increase their profit margins; however, they would have no profit margins if the CONSUMERS refused to buy these products. We the people do have power. Boycott companies that use slave labor.

Start by getting rid of the computer you typed that on, hypocrite.

And this how America profits from the new phone, how? Sounds like all the other countries are doing well cept us, just not the employees so much. Apple wants to make huge profits over our countries body, stop buying!

JULEA BACALL

....Corporations want their Record Profits at the expense of Human Rights. Stand strong for our own rights.

NAFTA and Trade agreements for Outsourcing is the KILLER.

And who signed NAFTA? Oh right, Clinton. Libtards really need to quit pointing fingers and realise that both sides of the establishment had a hand this mess.

Isn't it amazing, OUR "have to have it " generation manage to alienate every other person on earth. We do not have enough money to give to struggling country's because of the CRAP we force on their poorest people. We have managed to kill thousands in Mexico by our drug addictions, we have forced child labor in Bangladesh to manufacture our Louie Viton knock offs, we have allowed American company's to contract out communist labor camps to manufacture "the latest addiction communication devices". ALL FOR THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, not the jobs these devices brings, but the cold heart of some dictator corporate overseer demanding output. So keep up demanding frivolous crap from third world country's and keep a billion people hating us because of our wishy washy ways. Hell it seems half this country already believes in the constant lies from the republicrap party leaders, THOSE SAME CORPORATE PEOPLE THAT ARE PROFITING FROM THIS MISERY WANTS YOU TO ELECT THEM TO OFFICE. Not my vote!!!!!

BYE BYE..APPLE..Foxconn is how you make your BILLIONS and pay these people in China peanuts..hope they close forever!!!

Apple is an American company but nothing by Apple is made in America!

Not many Americans will bi**h about this..all love their cell phones..so don't cry about jobs going overseas then!

Companies have been forced to move overseas because of UNION THUGS getting paid $80/hr to do monkey work, retiring at 50 with full pay and free heathcare for their familes FOR LIFE.

You are so uninformed it's almost frightening.

How about acceepting the truth? It's more like $0.35 HR pay, no regulations, government incentives and plain old greed.

ED stop being a whiner. I think you need to go to the union and tell them no and see what happens you commie punk

Steve Jobs said it right..he wants to give people the best and with his future ideas he did it well.

Point is though..he never said it be American made products!!!

While I wish the means could be non-violent, queue Ghandi reference, hopefully good will come of this. Despite the rhetoric of late, Net Worth != Self Worth... how can we turn a blind eye to the suffering of others just so we can have the latest and greatest yesterday? Maybe its only people they know that some people can care about? Well... according to examinations done by The Daily Show the increase in price would be 23% if the devices were made here. Not a big price to pay... and if you want to put this country back to work and give our economy a much needed boost; here is your path.

This is not a Rep or Dem issue. A Romney or Obama issue. This is a lack of understanding how the world works issue. Every poster who said Obama or Romney or Rep or Dem only proves they don't know how the world works. And judging by the sheer volume of people in this thread who did, it speaks volumes about the intelligence level of the reader base.

You Are Right vglance....IT IS A WALL STREET Issue The Banksters Own Both DemoRAT & RepubloRAT So It Doesn't Matter Which Of The Same One Party Stooges Is In Power!

Guard Towers Electric And Prison Labor.....It Is The New American Paradigm!

America Refuse To Reward FAILURE Refuse To re-Elect ANY Of These Wall Street Stooges!

vglance, MUW

It used to matter... I read that until the big money started flowing into Wall Street, the campaign financing they did was on the republican side... but in the early 90's the Democrats started to take large amounts of that money as well, at which point it started to matter less.

However, at the end of the day, when things outside this realm need to be addressed, its better for human rights, etc... to have a democrat in office.

I'm not plugging here... I just feel the more who know our history, the better we will all be. The first financial bubble and crash in this country happened during Washington's first term.. and the progress was earily similar. Either please have a read at the link below or pick up Ron Chernow's book on Alexander Hamilton.

"On July 4, 1791, during George Washington’s first term as the new nation’s first president, stock in Hamilton’s Bank of the United States, a kind of precursor to the Federal Reserve, went on sale. Interestingly, the shares where sold in the form of a scrip. As Chernow describes it; an investor would make a down-payment of $25 to receive a contract which entitled them to buy some number of shares at par and then pay off the balance due over the next eighteen months. So the activity centered around the buying of something that wasn’t actually a security… not a direct line to the crash of 2007, but surely an echo."

blog ReadingThinkingAndWriting com /? cat=4 & paged=3

Pure and Simple....Apple and other companies using Foxconn, could not survive under obama's onerous regulations!

All the more reason for Romney/Ryan in 2012! They create jobs... obama creates dependency on government! Quit listening to the lies of the liberal media!

Sorry CogitoErgoBibo The Wall Street Banksters Learned The Magic Lesson....Purchase Both Candidates In Any Given Race And Hire A Few Justices Wives As Lobbyist and Wallah Never Fear Prosecution Again!

In 2012 There Is NO DIFFERENCE In Who You Elect The Results Will Still Be The Same As Barry Bush Has Proven!

But That Doesn't mean We Have To Reward Incumbents Failures....Maybe The Next Batch Will Want To Keep Their Jobs Bad Enough To Bite The Hand That Bought Them!

"Romney turned Massachusetts around while he was governor, turned the 2002 Olympics around and turned many struggling companies into profitable businesses. That's his history. That's his future.

Obama? Nothing at all to speak of, except 6 trillion more in debt, a divided nation, and trouble in the Middle East."

Romney turned Mass around? Debatable at best. I did like his health care though. Funny how he hates Obama care which was modeled after his. Hmmm

He saved the Olympics by borrowing millions from the government and destroyed more companies than he turned around. Matter of fact if he did turn any around it was probably an accident. He/Bain would put down as little a 5% then barrow 100's of millions to take control of the struggling company and put the loan on their tab (not the brightest thing to do to a struggling company) then He /Bain would charge said company millions in fees to tell them how to handle their new debt load. This usually meant firing the employees or ship the jobs over sea and many times just closing the place and selling off the assets. Its a lot more complex but that's the jest of his amazing skills. They used to be called corporate raiders, they aren't nice people. They didn't care one once about the workers or the company just what they could rape it for.

As for the debt please tell us all where the debt came from? Pssst much if it was from the last administration. Pssst two wars that were kept off the books during GWB terms and bail outs that started before Obama.

As for the middle east I seem to remember they've been trouble for hundreds of years. Matter of fact didn't one of them attack us long before Obama? Oh wait that was Afghanistan and OBL but for some reason GB decided we needed to invade Iraq and f up the Middle East even more. Guess blowing up dirt isn't as fun as people and buildings.

The Middle east will always be f'ed up that's the way they are its not up to any US President to fix them its their problem. If that is going to be one what you use to judge who you vote for then you're going to be changing party line at EVERY Elections (unless you're a hypocrite)

Yes the Nation is divided but it has be for a long time now. I seem to remember GB running on campaign promises to bring both parties and Washington together and then did nothing but make it worse. Obama said the same and now Romney is saying it also. Guess what? It's nothing new and Obama didn't start it and Romney isn't going to fix it.

Now that's some history for you.

Human rights violaters!!!! What? iPhones? Ohh, uhh, that's different. GET BACK TO WORK!

"Bill T from USA

Pure and Simple....Apple and other companies using Foxconn, could not survive under obama's onerous regulations!"

OHHHHH PLEEEASEEE LOL To start with they went their long before Obama. Duh! and I'm pretty sure Apple which is the biggest/richest company in the world would do just fine hiring Americans to make their over priced toys.

The problem is Corporations which by law have to make profits year after year for their investors. Sooner or later you'll have to find cheaper labor, hell they'll have to find cheaper everything at some point.

Then when they run out of ways to make more money they just start charging fees and in the case of Wall Street just make up magic investments and make as much as they can before it all collapses. What do you think would happen if Apples CEO brought all those jobs back to America? He would be fired as soon as their profits started sliding down. It wouldn't matter if they were still profitable only that they weren't as profitable as last year. That's corporate America for you.

Well said... I think people like BP-22... are just plants because their posts are just too unbelievably uninformed to be serious. Our government was created because, among other reasons, the Continental Congress did not have the power to levy taxes and regulate interstate commerce.

Think those soldiers at Valley Forge were in a barren area? Think again... it was Valley Forge Pennsylavania and it was the most fertile land in the states. The food was being sold by the farmers to the British who were occupying Philadelphia... why? Because the British had silver and the Continental Army had IOUs. In the end the officers of our Continental Army nearly marched on Philadelphia in a milatary coup to install George Washington as dictator. It was only the very honorable George Washington's speech that stopped it... pardon me, as I have grown not only grey, but also blind in the service of my country.

Please, start reading here: James Madison's journals on the Constitutional Convention...

BP.... stop drinking the koolaid! Unless perhaps that 'koolaid is providing food stamps and obama bucks which is much easier than WORK! Work and Jobs... two 4 letter words in Obama's plan! He's never thought much of either....

Good morning America! I supervisor Foxconn factory. No problem here. Those loud noise just firework, we party here much! All worker happy, love to work 18 hrs day! They sad if no work. Do not worry for us!

Obama's administration has outsourced more jobs than any other President in history..... but do the libbies care? Not really! It's easier to sign govenment checks than work in a factory... yechh to that! Our country is slowly going down while China, Russia, Brazil, Taiwan are moving up to replace us! Thanks to Barry and the Union thugs that control Barry!

"To the past, or to the future. To an age when thought is free. From the Age of Big Brother, from the Age of the Thought Police, from a dead man... greetings." ~ George Orwell 1984

So Honestly Who Are The REAL Terrorists Threatening America? Al-Qaeda Or Foxconn (Among All The Rest Of Our New UN Globalist Wall Street DHS Sponsored Gestapo Corporations)?

And You Wonder How All Of This De-Industrialization Of America Happened? Watch This New PBS Documentary!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l-8PFk8j5I

Then Ask Yourself WHY DID WE Allow This To Happen To America? We Have People Waiting In Lines Over Night To By Products Made In China By Slaves!

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever." ~ George Orwell, 1984

Where is your source free market fan? That secret fund raiser tape shown Romney was almost orgasmic when he described the factory he was buying in China. Guard towers to keep people out, the fantastic dorms, the women earning money so they can get married. Give us a freakin break.

NAFTA was supported by EVERY president from Ford to Obama. It took the first repub run senate and house in what, 40 years to pass it then Clinton signed it. NAFTA was blocked by all dem majority congresses from Ford to Clinton.

MUW...

Keep 'em fat, dumb, and happy and all will be well. As long as we are lulled into a sense of satisfaction, they can be sure we will search for any shred of logic, no matter how specious, that keeps us at the trough.

I started in software when I was 10 years old... before Microsoft was a household name and when the Internet was just a little Prepnet. ;) I am one of those "weight of the world on my shoulders" types, but I'm also one who feels sort of like my network and the computers attached are an extension of me (see Kurzweil). So you can imagine the drive for the "latest and greatest"... however, I have read long and wide in an effort to define myself by kindest and most compassionate of human history and I can't bring myself to buy an iPad or even the latest Kindle despite my desire for them (I need a e-book reader that is backlit!!)

How about we all listen to Phil Collins "Man on the Corner" which, as an amazing cooincidence happens to have just come on Music Choice... If I wasn't a rational thinker... ;)

Costs Apple twenty five dollars to get one made, sells for seven hundred in the US. Who makes the profit?

Timothy 6:9 ''But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.''

Make no mistake... It was no matter of bombs nor banks that defeated the Soviet Union and left the United States as the loan superpower. I am a patriot, and as such, I am well read and open minded because what makes this country great, in my opinion, is "We the people" more than anything else.

What defeated the Soviet Union (amoung other contributing factors) was the fact that our laws pushed for the many to have the best life possible... and that made it possible for a genius, Steve Wozniak to create the personal computer.

We were creating substance... real contributions to the betterment of all life. Private market business that actually contributed something, rather than financial sector people who mearly steal thus creating the illusion of wealth.

Genius is neither color nor class bound... it is an element of all of humanity. We didn't get this far by killing or hording. Life's biggest advances didn't come from the improved ability to kill... (Darwin got it partly right) they came from moments of symbiosis. That is not to say communism where the individual is lost... it is instead those moments where life learned that helping each other is better than beating, killing, and stealing from each other. From the microcosm... mitochondria taking care of massive power production thus allowing the eucharyotic cell to evolve more advanced function... to the macrocosm where our laws make sure children are not exploited and people are taxed in a relative to their income...

it is we... not I... that survives... while at the same time we hold "I" in the highest regard because without the respect for the individual, there is no development of the individual who can create, like no collective can.

Xerox was a collective... a "free market" born corporation and they were blind to the value of what was to be some of the most valuable technology every created... the mouse... the windowed operating system...

There can be no doubt that the individual must be protected... however, Rand was wrong, society matters, and to my mind, self worth is derived from what you contribute to the betterment of others, of your own free will, relative to what you are capable of contributing.

Hey ILUVUSA ur post is really stupid

Jon from Vegas

Hope you all like your slave labor made i-phones!! Smart phones make you stupid!!

It's not Apple's fault, or ours.

Apple put out a call for the lowest bid, these guys excepted.

What a company, in another country, pays for wages is between them, THEIR employees and THEIR government.

Our society rose up and fought against this kind of treatment and so will they, eventually.

But as someone pointed out, be ready to pay big bucks for this stuff when it happens.

Our society is selling out human rights when they buy this crap that is produced by slave labor sweat shops. Until China works to change this situation I for one would love to buy only products that are made in America or under situations where workers rights are protected.

Unfortunately America is becoming just like China. Rich corporations blackmail workers into working for an unliveable salary or they ship the jobs overseas. America is cutting it's own throat in so many ways it is ridiculous. Soon there will be no one who can buy any products except the rich, and then who will be to blame.

Flatiron; international trade started long before NAFTA - we started buying oil from the Middle East around 1918. I love the time lines some people have in their heads - I guess nobody ever lived in the Holy Lands before Christians, Jews, and Muslims either...and those people already in the Americas, were not real people before 1492.

It isn't that we buy stuff from China - we buy too much stuff period. My computer is 8 years old and my cell phone is at least 6 years old - the spoiled brats would go crazy if they were ever made to make due with what they already have. The brats are also the ones who bill collectors are looking for - must be pretty funny knowing you can't answer that new phone because it might be somebody hunting your butt down...lmao.

"Hope you all like your slave labor made i-phones!! Smart phones make you stupid!!"

JonfromVegas: I won't argue your assertion that smart phones make you stupid, though I disagree (stupid is as stupid does). But it isn't slave labor. These people get paid for their labor. What's more, they fight to get these jobs.

The very unfortunate thing is that companies take advantage of people who need this employment. That utter need causes some to commit suicide when they are taken advantage of, abused, etc. and a person sees no other way out. For the company? There are throngs of others fighting to take their place.

And Sancho, really... The word is accepted. Look up excepted, you'll see it puts a whole different spin on your sentence.

Good morning America! I supervisor Foxconn factory. No problem here. Those loud noise just firework, we party here much! All worker happy, love to work 18 hrs day! They sad if no work. Do not worry for us!

You left off the last part of the message. "We love you long, long time, Americans."

Apples always been cheap. Instead of paying more they simply switch to another low paying Taiwanese company. It's the way they do on digital downloads. They make billions selling downloads from American servers but bill from a small office in Luxembourg which has no corporate taxes therefore they pay no taxes on billions income. That's the reason the argument that the corporate tax rates are too high is nonsense. No country in the world allows corporations so many loopholes.

Still can't figure out all of the railing against 'illegals stealing our jobs' from the sharecroppers and dishwashers, yet sending all of the manufacturing jobs to China is a great idea...

Makes you say 'hmmm'

Illegals, corporate taxes, EPA regulations and unions are all used as scapegoats. We could ship out every single illegal, eliminate all corporate taxes, abandon all environmental regulations as well as outlaw all unions and not one single manufacturing job would return to The United States.

There are only three methods to bring those jobs back home.

****************************************************************

The first is the preferred method of the Tea Party Corporate Republican Party if we give them our support;

They remove all of the social safety nets that keep many disabled, elderly and disadvantaged Americans from dying of starvation, exposure or disease. We don't need to worry about them per Mitt Romney.

Then slyly eliminate the middle class before they know what's coming(that's happening as we speak). They expect much more than their true worth. A successful economy must only have two classes. The very poor and the very rich. That provides an effective barrier where everybody knows their place.

Screw the infrastructure. The very poor don't need electricity, running water or a sewer system. The more they suffer, the harder they will work for much less. The very rich can well afford their own community power plants, private roads and waterways.

The very poor that produce the next generation of uneducated and poverty-stricken surviving litters will barely remember how things used to be. The jobs will come back when the American people are willing to work much harder for much less than the Chinese and eastern Indians. Never mind that such actions would destroy the world's largest consumer nation with no one left to buy their finished products. They will cross that bridge when they get to it. Fools!

**************************************************************************

The second method requires little effort. Simply sit back and wait. Our infrastructure will collapse as it is neglected even more. Our now fragile economy will collapse of it's own weight. 80% of the American people can never hope to salvage a nation by controlling only 20% of it's wealth. The 20% that own 80% of our wealth will greedily seek it all. China and India will grow to control all of the world's wealth as all of us work for them on American soil. Romney's kids will have to learn Chinese and prove their worth or bow down to receive a bullet to the back of the head as the price of failure. Again, fools!

*************************************************************************

The third method is the only sound method. Throw the greedy fools out of power. Demand that all American manufacturers pay an import tax equal to what it would cost to manufacture their products here with fair corporate taxes, respect of all of our environmental concerns and pay the American workers fair and livable wages. Failure to do so would prohibit them from selling goods to the largest consumer nation. New patriotic American entrepreneurs would rapidly fill their shoes as the procrastinators die a well-deserved and slow economic death.

Economic disparity would once again return to acceptable levels to support the best of a carefully regulated capitalistic economic system. The middle-class would return as the back-bone of America. The elderly, disabled and downtrodden would be elevated as American citizens without the threat of starvation, exposure or disease to force them into a life of extreme suffering like many in third world countries.

We can do this. Generations of earlier Americans fought and died to give us the opportunity to do this. We must do this to restore the American dream for all instead of only the privileged few (who are soon destined for utter failure at their own hands).

We should be thankful Romney didn't win. He wanted to bring in 1.25 million hightech workers and remove caps on H1B visas which would have flooded the country with foreign workers taking our best paying jobs. He claimed the new workers would create support jobs. Like selling them big macs.

What's your cell phone of choice?

You know what they call a union member in China? A executed traitor.

I can tell by your comment you are plain ol p.w.t.........

For the last 40 years, Republican/Conservative policies for Corporations have put us and the many parts of the whole world at the mercy of the BOSS. In a Private Corporation, people have no rights. Even our Laws don't always work in Private Corps in the USA. Unfortunately, since the Democrats got into this Trilateral Organization who gives them their "Plans" (Clintons, Rice, and several wealthy leaders) even Democrats want to jump on the Golden Band Wagon. There is NO ONE in politics (maybe Bernie Sanders) to look out for US.

Lean on your Congress people to pass the legislation Obama tried to put thru in July to PENALIZE Corps who Outsource, and reward those who hire in. Apple should hire here. Microsoft should hire here. And bring back Unions. Corps might not like being fair but they CAN afford it and its the Right thing to do.

This is why I don't buy Apple products, they make no products in the U.S. China cannot afford to get into a trade war with us. All we need to do is reel in the EPA and OSHA along with the zillion other alphabet bureaucracies, we could get Americans back to work.

Apple is not the only using Foxconn, they supply parts for a lot of manufacturers and sell motherboards under their own name, which maybe inside your dell, hp or whatever.

Jane

It's nice that you reference the liberal rag called the Guardian, seeing that Ca. is about the most liberal state in the country.

Look in the mirror, if you can stand it, it is the state of Ca. and the libs like you that allows these so called abuses to happen.

I however don't believe the article you referenced, since they don't know how to spell labor in American English.

Nay, the company still has options such as VeitNam & other 3rd world countries.

As long as money is more important then patriotism & loyalty nothing will change.

Mark440, why should only Apple employees be ashamed? Because their company has pressured Foxconn to pay higher wages, allow employees more time off and exhibit more decency and humanity in its treatment of its workers? Yeah, that's really something to be ashamed of.

On the other hand, how many of Foxconn's other customers did the same? HP? Dell? Microsoft? Sony? Amazon?

I love the comments from the defenders, totally ignoring that an employee was hit by a guard on a Sunday night at 10pm, photos of a GUARD TOWER at the factory being knocked over, etc.

I don't own any Apple products and have no intentions to, but if a free iPhone with service was to drop in my lap I'd make sure I set its wallpaper to a photo of Chinese child laborers with missing fingers and limbs and not feel guilty. Who says they were maimed making an iPhone? It could have been laptops or TVs or My Little Ponies. It's a big factory, ya know.

@Saavy Shopper, yes it is a big factory that makes more electronic products for more companies than any other in the world. I already mentioned HP, Dell, Microsoft, Sony & Amazon. Add to that list Nokia, Google/Motorola, Acer, Vizio, Toshiba, Nintendo, Intel and Cisco.

Maybe at the time of these riots they were making Amazon Kindle Fires or Vizio HDTV sets or Microsoft XBox 360s or Dell laptops or...you get the idea.

At Apple's insistence, an audit of Foxconn was performed earlier this year by the Fair Labor Association, and based on those results, Apple has pressured Foxconn to give its employees better pay, restrict excessive overtime and improve workplace safety conditions. How many of Foxconn's other big customers supported those efforts?

Hon Hai precision industries is a Tawanese company with manufacturing plants in China, Brazil and the Czech republic, the factory is in China, the company is Taiwanese

If you talk to a Taiwanese person they consider themselves more Chinese than Taiwanese, and is officially called the Republic of China, not to be confused with the Peoples Republic of China.

You are right VADOC, Foxconn is the largest MultiNational electronics company headquartered in Tucheng,New Taipei,Taiwan. Its clients include major American, European and Japanese electronics and information tech companies. It is the largest private-sector employer in China and has become involved in several human rights controversies. Apple actually hired the Fair Labor Association to conduct an audit of working conditions (you know how That goes, without Unions and EPA for safety) People NEED those protections! There and in the USA. Beware the argument that we would have work without them. Its just another Corporate Conn job.

Foxconn opened in China in 1988. 2001 Intel began using it. (in China) 2012 Japan's Sharp began using it (in China) There is a walled complex for iPod covering 1.6 sq mi. with 15 factories and its own TV station, stores,banks,dormatories,hospital,restaurants etc. for "employees" behind its private walls. And are known for low wages and numerous suicides.

Brazil has the same. Also Hungary,Slovakia,and the Czech Republic, India, Japan, Malaysia and Mexico.

Major customers are Amazon.con, AppleInc, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Motorola, Nintendo(Japan), Sony & Toshiba(Japan), Vizio(USA), Nokia (Finland), Acer (Taiwan.

They're part of Thurston Howell Romney's 47%, International Division, that expect food. Can you believe it? Let's starve them until they increase production... some Americans have their iPhones on backorder!

Was it Steve Jobs' reputation as a decent, liberal human being?

Decent liberal? The evil Bill Gates has given millions to helping people. Jobs? Nope. Hypocrisy is a founding pillar of liberalism, and it's done over and over and over...

Wait, so "liberals" are corporatists also?! What a shocker!

Johnson/Gray 2012

Of course you do. Your name would reveal that.

Serial ATA Nick. SATAnick. Reading his comments over the past year has earned him credibility. He's obviously intelligent, not likely a heathen.

Serial ATA Nick. SATAnick. Reading his comments over the past year has earned him credibility. He's obviously intelligent, not likely a heathen.

Thank you TopJimmy!

So your logic is that because other companies engage in commerce with Foxconn then Apple is absolved of all responsibility for buying the product of slave labor? I don't think so. You could list 100 more companies and that wouldn't change a single thing about Apple. They actively, knowingly engage in slave labor via the purchase of those products. It doesn't matter if they are the only one or are just one of thousands, they are still UNDOUBTEDLY guilty.

Apple has long represented the innovative genius of Americans. Apple has a responsibility - just like ALL the others - to NOT put the onus of their profits on the back of slave labor. China is now where the US was 60-70 years ago - and sooner or later those people will rise and reclaim their lives. Apple is directly and KNOWINGLY profiting from slave labor. There have been far too many reports about Foxconn to believe it was just a misunderstanding.

You seem to think its all about Apple. Well, tell me this. If Apple could get the same product built in the US for the same price - do you really think they would? HELL NO! We have labor laws that prevent this type of abuse. As it is - they can pass it off - look the other way - under the guise of it being a foreign company. Well, ya know what - APPLE owns the purchase order.

You better take a look around and thank you f'ing lucky stars that you are here in the USA. The laws that have somewhat leveled the playing field have put your butt in that ergonomically correct desk and chair, and has provided provisions for you to be paid overtime in excess of 40 hrs. Why don't you take that high and mighty research capability and see what the Chinese workers get??

And - thank you for the list. I'll keep a look out for them as well.

So your logic is that because other companies engage in commerce with Foxconn then Apple is absolved of all responsibility for buying the product of slave labor?

No, the logic is that people need to stop jumping on bandwagons and realize that while they may hate Apple and its products, and relish the thought of it doing business with a factory known for inhumane conditions, they ignore the fact that many other products, including several that they may own, are made at the same factory. It's selective outrage.

These people are hypocrites. They harp on Apple for using this factory, but are silent/ignorant regarding the other companies that use it.

If they are outraged about Apple using this factory, so too should they be outraged at these other companies using it. This is of course, only if inhumane conditions were the true subject of their outrage, which it is not.

These people are not outraged over the conditions of the workers, they are simply jumping on the bandwagon of Apple-hating, and loving the new fodder.

In contrast, picking on only Apple effectively absolves all the other companies of all responsibility for buying the product of slave labor.

Sorry boom....it IS about the workers.

Apple is in the spotlight right now not only with the release of the new iPhone - but also the company's wealth status. And, for the record - Apple is a GREAT company to its American employees (or so I have been told).

Apple has been a leader in some really kick-ass products. So, this isn't about Apple-bashing for sake of bashing Apple. FWIW - I doubt there is a person on the planet that has not been impacted by Apple products. Virtually all creative visual media is done in the domain of Apple.

But, being the leader doesn't mean they can do so at the expense of their empoylees - either direct or indirect. They need to take the lead in treating ALL people as humans.

Apple is already globally known for its remarkable products. Now it needs to be known for its remarkable leadership in setting global labor standards for all. IF its good enough for their employees on American soil - it should be good enough for those on foreign soil as well.

Apple nor ANY BUYER of Foxconn products can dictate what Foxconn pays their employees. NONE.

Apple could specify anything it wanted to in a CONTRACT, including higher wages. Then Foxcon would simply roll that into the bid. The US Federal government demanded that any company receiving "stimulus" money pay prevailing wages or hire union labor. THAT was written directly into the stimulus legislation. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Still, Mr. boom!, Apple would rather be rich than try to change these horrible conditions, or move on. Plus they have the rosey, socially conscious image, that's why the media focuses on them, because they're the hypocrites. Don't pick on people who don't know more companies than Apple do business with Foxconn. They're not hypocrites, Apple is the only one who the media told them about, and it's the Apple Foxconn factories where this keeps happening. So let them focus their rage and maybe something good will come of it.

iPod city in China, run by Foxconn, is a 1.6 sqmi Walled city known for its low pay unsafe, working conditions and working with hazardous material, and in the last few years, suicide rates. Apple hired the Fair Labor Association to conduct an audit of working conditions; but little has changed. Thats why Apple is under fire. They should hire HERE and get out of the Record Profit making off slave labor. These people are owned and work "in Private" behind a walled city.

Mark440, my comment was about how YOU said Apple Sucks without calling out ANY other company. You were being (and still are being) very myopic. I didn't say Apple wasn't absolved (please read again if you need to). I said 2 things:

You only picked out one company because you jumped on the bandwagon.

Apple was the ONLY company out of that list that even attempted to get better working conditions.

Both facts seemed to have gone over your head as well as DanTheMan's.

@Elron, no they cannot simply "demand" workers get those wages. Think for about 2 seconds. If they did that, what would actually happen at that factory? It would be chaos and a lot worse than this article referred to. NO company can dictate what another factory can pay-especially when it's in a different country. Period. ANd unless you have access to information for which you can share with is...it is YOU that doesnt know what they are talking about. But hey..I'll wait here so you can go get that information you are talking about. Please show us ANY company that has been successful in dictating wages of another country. See ya when you get back with that.

oh shut the f*** up about Obama. You're the biggest idiot here.

Mark440, please take a f*&*^ing prozak and relax bud. Your wound way to tight for this @!$%#.

Funny how the notion of tolerance vanishes when it comes to anything but praise for Obama. Hypocrisy again!

Funny how changes made years ago..NAFTA, MultiNational, a crooked Free Market, tax cuts for Corps so GE pays ZERO, tax cuts for all multibillion dollar Corporations, loopholes, wars & giant Military, Nuclear disasters just waiting to happen, deregulation of Banks and Wall Street causing a crash for the whole World, legislation out of ALEC etc.....all Republican/Conservative policies can suddenly be blamed on Obama.

These are things that started back in the 80'-90's!! People were warned against them but refused to listen, thinking they would all get Rich. "No!" people said. "Only some will. It will be disaster for most of us and our Nation. But did anyone listen!!!" So blame it all on a man elected when all the @!$%# hits the fan from the past. Don't blame the real culprets. Don't fix the real problems. Don't take responsibility. Blame it on Obama.

Obama tried to pass legislation to Penalize Corps for outsourcing and reward for hiring IN. That would put us back to work. That would help the Nation of American People. It won't kill corporations. But what Corps are doing will kill US. They don't need more tax cuts. How can you get lower than ZERO. They don't need to kill EPA. They can work with Unions. They just would rather make RECORD Profits than get this country going again.

If this Nation still can't listen to those of us who warned you in the past, we won't just see another disater. We will see destruction.

I disagree. You give Corps all your power and we end up like the Chinese. Let Corps go back to Normal Profit instead of Record. Let them cut their 20M$ bonuses. Let them Play Fair with our lives.

What the hell are you talking about? Can you give specifics, and references? Otherwise, please go back down to the basement.

It's not that you're paranoid, it's just that obama and others are out to get you. Now, back to the storm shelter - 50 years of saltines and baked beans for all!!!

John in PA and Don't Get It,

Just because someone doesn't like BHO doesn't mean they are ignorant. Rather your lack of tolerance is stunning considering you sound like a liberal. This is a pubic board, so people are free to speak their minds (just like you). Isn't tolerance and acceptance for everyone? Or just for those who agree with you?

The issue at hand is neither political party, but a trend for cheap labor and manufacturing. I don't know what it will take to curb it, but I am sure it won't be easy or soon.

Okay, Mimi, let me rephrase my response in a more civilized tone.

Platoschild, you make some serious claims regarding our President. You claim he is "the most precise personification of pure evil we will witness in our own lifetime" and that he is a "diabolic minded leader". You finish by stating "such a person coupled with a dumbed down pool of useless idiots can be the end of all advancement we have strived for in the past and the start of our own extinction" referring to the President and the electorate respectively, I assume.

While we are all permitted to form our own opinions, and to voice them as we see fit, such as in a public board like this, I still feel that you should be able to explain how you formed your opinions, and if possible, provide references for claims you make. Would you be able to provide a less cryptic explanation of you views, and if possible, provide references for your claims.

Mimi, you are correct in stating that just because someone doesn't like BHO doesn't mean they are ignorant. Reread Plato's response. It is venomous, toxic. I have disagreed with many politicians, but would never say anything so vicious as what he has said. In this age of anonymous boards like this one, I still feel the writer has the obligation to be reasonably considerate, and when making extreme claims should be able to back them up. Make outrageous claims, that are so far out there as to be offensive, and the writer should expect a vigorous response.

Outrageous claims, without any proof, have become commonplace today, whether anonymously or publicly. Our politicians, commentators, writers and so on, make statements that have little truth to them, but are regarded as the truth. They are regarded as indisputable if they are repeated often enough. Opinions are formed based on these claims, and votes are cast. We should demand better. (And it's not a Republican or Democrat problem, it's happening on both sides.)

Accountability. Accountability for words and actions. That's the word I needed. We should demand it, and if not, should expect to be questioned. Just keep it civil, I guess.

L.Che, right but its a 6$ phone you paid $50,000. + per year for, if you lost your job in electronics.

Yeah. They care about their workers. Don't see anti-suicide nets here, do ya?

Yes, Foxconn is a terrible place to work as are many places in China. When Foxconn first recognized they had a suicide problem one of the first things they did was to double wages. Foxconn workers are paid better than many other Chinese factory workers. Certainly not as good as western standards, but better than Chinese.

Next look at the Apple Supplier Responsibility 2012 Progress Report on their web site. They have been working hard to hold unscrupulous suppliers feet to the fire for many years now. Are they perfect? No, but the conditions are greatly improved. Before you bad mouth Apple, do some research. Look at the actions they are taking.

The conditions have barely improved and only for the auditors benefit. How can you write Greatly Improved. You sound like a supervisor, not a worker.