Today, Apple announced that the Fair Labor Association will begin conducting a series of special audits at Foxconn’s Chinese final assembly plants. Per Apple’s request, the FLA will be inspecting plant safety, process documents, factory and dormitory conditions, working hours, and management practices. The inspections will encompass Foxconn facilities in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China where nearly 90% of Apple products are assembled.
Apple CEO, Tim Cook comments on the audits:
“We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we’ve asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers,”
“The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports.”
Since 2006, Apple has regularly performed audits of their manufacturing partners facilities, but the current FLA partnership appears to be motivated by recent claims of abuse at the Foxconn factories in China and a rising call for action by supporters of the Apple brand.
