Microsoft, Amazon say little about Foxconn

A Chinese woman who carves the Apple logo into metal had never seen what a tablet computer looked like. She gasped when an ABC reporter went into the controversial Foxconn plant and showed her an iPad.

Foxconn has 13 factories in nine Chinese cities. It’s largest factory, where hundreds of thousands of people work, has been criticized for forced overtime, underage labor, suicides and exposure to dangerous chemicals.

ABC News was invited inside the plant, where Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.com products are made. Reporter Bill Weir was told he could ask any questions.

The report shows employees toiling in silence under fluorescent lights, with occasional commands from supervisors in Mandarin.

Workers perform repetitive tasks, some using tweezers to insert parts. In the Foxconn dormitory rooms, eight workers share a small space crammed with bunk beds.

It’s been reported that Foxconn workers are as young as 12 years old. While some of the women in ABC’s photos look like they could be 16, there are no adolescents visible.

Watch ABC video from inside plant:

Seattle author and actor Mike Daisey watched the Nightline report with skepticism. Daisey, who performs a one-man show called “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” talked with workers outside Foxconn and believes they might have been more truthful when talking to him.

“Nightline had unrestricted access and could talk to whomever they chose, but there were always a group of Foxconn people with them at all times. So workers have a news crew, with cameras and lights, and a number of Foxconn executives shadowing them, and in that environment they were expected to tell their stories,” Daisey writes on his blog.

Daisey says the ABC interview has a lot of Apple PR shine on it.

“Apple is reacting here to public pressure, and we can not afford the luxury of believing that anything happening now would happen without that pressure,” he says. “We must not relent.”

The pressure may be on Apple, but they’re not alone in using Foxconn as a manufacturer. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Amazon.com’s Kindle and Kindle Fire rely on Foxconn. I asked both companys for information about their use of the plant, and any labor investigations they’ve done there. Their PR statements:

Microsoft

“We do not disclose which specific products are manufactured by which suppliers as that information is confidential and changes from time to time as we dial up and down production of various products across our suppliers. Microsoft takes working conditions in the factories that manufacture its products very seriously. We monitor working conditions closely on an ongoing basis and address issues as they emerge.”

Amazon

“At Amazon, we have a strong commitment to conducting business in a lawful and ethical manner, including engaging suppliers that are committed to the same principles.” Amazon’s statement on fair pay: “Suppliers should realize that wages are essential to meeting their employees’ basic needs. Our suppliers must pay their workers in a timely manner and by providing compensation including overtime pay and benefits that at a minimum satisfy applicable laws.”

Would you pay more for electronics from Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, if it meant their products were produced in a factories with better working conditions?

By Linda Thomas

Foxconn photo Kin Cheung/AP