Foxconn confirms reports that had underage interns on staff.
Foxconn has released a statement acknowledging that it breached Chinese labor laws by employing 14- and 15-year-old interns. The company told CNet in a statement that was conducting an investigation into how the underage workers came to work at Foxconn.
The company's statement comes in response to a report published by China Labor Watch, a New York-based non profit, that claimed Foxconn employed child labor during the summer of this year. CLW cites worker at the factory as saying interns under the age of 16 were working at the factory, a report corroborated by a Chinese radio show.
CLW says that a small number of student interns aged between 14-years-old and 16-years-old were sent to Foxconn by schools. Foxconn did not check the students' IDs to confirm their ages.
"The schools involved in this incident should take primary responsible, but Foxconn is also culpable for not confirming the ages of their workers," a statement on CLW's site reads. "China Labor Watch calls on the Chinese government to improve the current intern system of Chinese schools."
Speaking to CNet, Foxconn said the interns in question have been sent back to school.
"This is not only a violation of China's labor law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy and immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions," the company is quoted as saying. "We are also carrying out a full investigation, in cooperation with the respective educational institutions, to determine how this happened and the actions that must be taken by our company to ensure that it can never happen again."
You do realize their list of clients include: Samsung, Microsoft, Sony, Intel, HP, Dell, Cisco, Amazon, Motorola, Toshiba, Nintendo, etc.
Why are you just naming Apple, that's pathetic. Blame all of them or none.
You're sounding like an anti-Apple Stan.
You do realize their list of clients include: Samsung, Microsoft, Sony, Intel, HP, Dell, Cisco, Amazon, Motorola, Toshiba, Nintendo, etc.
Why are you just naming Apple, that's pathetic. Blame all of them or none.
You're sounding like an anti-Apple Stan.
And children were frequently killed and maimed at the workplace. I'd like to point out that "back then" radium was prescribed as a wonder drug (it is extremely lethal in small doses), cocaine and methamphetamines were considered good for your health and we lined our homes with asbestos. We did a lot of really stupid things "back then," child labor included.
Why don't you go read this article and tell me that child labor is a good thing. I'm sure the money those kids saved up was a great comfort to the families of all the dead children.
Paper route at 14, fine by me. Industrial manufacturing at 14 (you know, what Foxconn does), absolutely not under any circumstances.
Yeah, so sissified that we decided we didn't want to see any more children who lost limbs in machinery or suffer from crippling repetitive stress injuries before they start high school. So sissified that we decided to stop letting companies exploit the insanely low wages they can pay children. So sissified that we decided maybe companies shouldn't be allowed to make massive profits on the backs of children.