E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Sarah Ryan, right, and Shelby Knox deliver a box with 250,000 signatures protesting working conditions at Chinese factories that manufacture Apple products to the Apple Store in Grand Central Station.
Protesters Thursday delivered a petition with 250,000 signatures to the Apple Store in Grand Central Station in New York as part of an international demonstration about working conditions at Foxconn, a day after hackers infiltrated computers at the now-notorious Taiwanese tech manufacturer and main Apple supplier.
The hack, which exposed Foxconn employee emails and passwords, and Thursday's demonstration organized by Change.org and SumOfUs.org, reflect a growing unease among U.S. consumers following a recent New York Times series about the harsh environment at the largest tech-manufacturer in the world, with many other U.S. tech giants among its customers.
The Times documented the cramped living conditions of Foxconn employees as well as excessive hours on the job and 7-day work weeks in which employees stand for hours without break. As well as reporting underage employees and workers exposed to deadly chemicals used to build and clean Apple products, the story also documented deadly accidents at the plant and included more than a few damning quotes about Apples' ambivalence about working conditions:
"If Apple was warned, and didn’t act, that’s reprehensible," said Nicholas Ashford, a former chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, a group that advises the United States Labor Department." But what’s morally repugnant in one country is accepted business practices in another, and companies take advantage of that."
Apple CEO Tim Cook, in an email to employees after the story ran, said claims that Apple didn't care about the welfare of Foxconn workers are "patently false."
"What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain," he said in the email. "On this you have my word."
Organizers behind Thursday's demonstration however, want more than Cook's word.
"Right now we have a huge opportunity as ethical consumers: The launch of the iPhone 5 later this year will be new Apple CEO Tim Cook’s first big product rollout, and he can’t afford for anything to go wrong — including negative publicity around how Apple’s suppliers treat their workers," reads a portion of the petition, available online. "That’s why we’re launching a campaign this week to get Apple to overhaul the way its suppliers treat their workers in time for the launch of the iPhone 5."
As well as the Grand Central Station store, demonstrators are set to deliver petitions to other Apple locations in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Bangalore, London and Sydney, where activists will also pass out educational leaflets to passers-by.
Meanwhile, the hacker collective Swagg Security, which took credit for leaking Foxconn employee emails and passwords — including the personal email for Foxconn CEO Terry Gou — initially cited Foxconn working conditions in a message reporting the hack. The overall explanation, posted on Pastebin — the de facto bulletin board for hack announcements — more reflects how any company in the negative spotlight should expect some sort of server infiltration:
"Although we are considerably disappointed of the conditions of Foxconn, we are not hacking a corporation for such a reason and although we are slightly interested in the existence of an iPhone 5, we are not hacking for this reason. We hack for the cyberspace who share a few common viewpoints and philosophies. We enjoy exposing governments and corporations, but the more prominent reason, is the hilarity that ensues when compromising and destroying an infrastructure."
More about Apple:
- Post SOPA, it's time to protest ACTA (on Feb. 11)
- Your iPhone was built, in part, by 13 year-olds in China
- Apple: The Chinese want jobs, too!
Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about privacy and then asks her to join her on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+. Because that's how she rolls.
Leave a Comment:
This is great and all, but why aren't these people protesting the rest of these companies who benefit from foxxconn as well? Why weren't they highlighted in the NYTimes article? Why is it that Apple's manufacturing plants actually pay more than the other companies and have asked that their employees get treated better? None of that is ever brought up.
Now legs boycott these companies.
Because they are hypocrites.
What's funny is their view is so one-sided that they refuse to accept all the information and data and the facts. Apple has done more to be transparent of their work over in China and has been since 2008 when reports surfaced of issues at Foxconn. On top of that, they have done more for the Chinese worker then any other company in the world by improving their workers environment, conditions, wages and living.
These are the same demonstrators that talk about green cars yet don't realize the rare earth materials that go into these electric/hybrid batteries cause more environmental harm, especially to the countries of China, Afghanistan, and others where they are mined.
This whole issue gives the complete lie to Steve Jobs and "the Apple Way." He now appears to have been an utter fanatic and a total dictator, not only allowing the abuse of the people who make his products, but also abusing his close associates.
I will NEVER purchase an Apple product.
Oh bologna. Rare earth metals. Please, there are more rare earth metals in a TV. Now I'm not disagreeing that metal extractions in poor countries cause local environmental harm. Poor are exploited and often live shorter lives because of exposure to harmful byproducts of mining, refining, etc. Some of these nasty chemicals like chromium and nickel end up in say the "silverware" or flatware you eat with everyday, or the chrome trim on your car, etc.
Larger point: Everyone might suffer if greenhouse gasses continue to increase at current rate. We should clean up the messes our consumption makes in poor areas of the world, but if gas/electric vehicles reduce our overall use of carbon, good. All electric is a joke right now, since the juice usually comes from dirty fuel, but in the future, all electric is probably cleaner. Probably.
In the mean time, remember that most of your energy use is not from your car.
You guys are right apple is better than most coporations about how they treat their workers in other countries. I think they get such a hard backlass because they have always sold themselves as the green, environmentally and worker friendly company and all their hardcor customers bought into it. Now their hardcore customers are relizing apple is not this golden child that they tried to make themselve out to be, and they have their panties in bunch.
Yeah, people that don't think for themselves typically believe lies easier than most... And by people that don't think for themselves, I mean Apple users.
Its interesting...phrasing...you could say they are better than most corporations....
or you can say they are bad, just not as bad.
Given how many people are out of work, and how many jobs are shipped overseas...I'm going to go with that second phrasing. I'll give Apple a D in a class of failing grades.
They protest now but wait for the cry from the streets if Apple is forced to improve working conditions and pass the cost onto the consumer.
This country is built on cheap labor. Americans demand cheap products and this is the unfortunate result of those demands. They fail to realize that often comes at a cost to somebody.
They are protesting all of the American companies that use Foxconn. However, Apple is the obviously the most popular company, thus drawing attention to them will bring about change more easily. Apple has constantly touted how they are and want to be a leader. Well now the public is putting that statement back to them and asking them to be that leader. Apple also only employs something like 40,000 people in the USA. We the ridiculously high price they ask for products that cost them a few bucks to make they could easily have more jobs in the US, or could at least not treat the asian workers like slaves. Just because other companies do the same thing doesn't make it right, we aren't 2 year olds here. I just bought a tablet, and made sure it wasn't an iPad for this reason.
Damien - When did anything Apple ever sold come cheap to the public? Their products are easily 3x-5x the price of comparables, all because of the Apple name and admittedly quality. However, don't try to act like Apple isn't making an absolute killing. They could easily afford to treat their workers better, considering they refuse to have any jobs in America other than the retail store positions.
Mostly because Apple Sucks the most!
Quality? I call BS. Restricted so that the user can't do anything stupid? Yeah.
I agree with JasonFinPhilly. Apple is a great target to protest because they are a leader and want to remain a leader. They are in the position to make real change, thus forcing other companies to follow suit.
And since it was disclosed that Apple made a billion a week in profits last quarter, and that translates to a $400,000 profit per employee, they have an awful lot of room there to pay employees better and provide better working conditions. Chinese employees are paid $17 a day. Come on.
Renee - Exactly. So many people are mindless Apple fanboys, just like the Samsung commercials depict them. I own an Apple iTouch from a few years ago, but I refuse to buy any more Apple products until they both treat their overseas workers better (by the way, it is not the overseas workers faults that Apple puts the jobs there and not here), AND they produce more jobs here for Americans. We need to hold our American companies to a higher standard! I understand some things just have to be made overseas for cheap, like reusable ice cubes, because if made here they would be $10 a cube, but Apple products do not fall into this category.
@Mike Kelley
"He now appears..."? Where have you been Mike? It's been well known that Steve Jobs was a fanatic, bi-polar, dictatorial abuser, who was also a genuis.
You can't buy any electronics without the taint of chinese slave labor.
Actually that was brought up, and it turns out that other manufacturers actually do pay the workers more as well as provide greater profit for the company. The reason apple is being targeted however, is because they are at the top of the heap. If you think apple is that great then you should demand that they lead and improve those conditions.
I'm a fiscal conservative and I think this is great. Hopefully more people will get involved in these sorts of initiatives and get politicians and companies to start taking action.
A saying an old boss of mine had on his wall that I've always liked was "Incremental progress is better than postponed perfection."
Sure, there are lots of other companies that could/should be targeted, but you have to start somewhere. If we can get Apple to change, others will likely follow suit.
Apple profits the most or all those companies. In the NYT article, Apple was able to produce $400,000 of product per Chinese employee. $400k for an employee that makes under $1k a year!!
The pay for other companies is the same, but the profit is not. Apple charges an arm and a leg for their products, not because they cost more to produce, but because people will buy at those prices. Yes cheap labor CAN drive down prices, but more often than not it only drives up profit. When has Apple ever reduced the price of their products to beat competitors price? Apple uses oversea labor, because it is more reactive (something the NYT report showed by how Jobs was able to reconfigure the original iphone in 2 weeks by having the workers be taken out of bed and work 16 hr shifts) and because it is helps them acheive record profits.
The question to Apple is, do you think child labor laws are right? Do you think that a worker should be treated with respect, and safely? Do you think that an employer should do things like reduce injury for employees? If they think those are the right things to do, they should pull out of China and move. They don't have to move here, they can go to Europe, or Japan, or even South America....but workers are a step above a slave in most of Asia, if you are willing to manufacture your product there you obviously don't think much of an employee, or the rights of man.....because being arrested for uttering the thought of unionizing is a violation of a human right, and that is what all chinese companies are partaking in.
Not true at all..such a BS urban legend.
Go look up the cost of an exact product match, component for component and you will see that they fall within usually 10% of each other...Apple vs competitor/built. You are also paying for the iOS or OS which isn't free to develop and also R&D.
HP's Touchpad was priced at the same price point as the iPad. It failed because it wasn't a good product.
The reason Apple makes so much profit is because they sell a TON of their products.
QFT and it probably should just be 'any product' but these left-wing nut jobs that are protesting refuse to acknowledge that. They probably are on their Android phone spouting their hypocrisy while wearing clothing Made in China.
JasonFinPhilly, you can say that Apple can afford to treat workers better and make money, but don't think for one minute the people at the top of the company making the most off these products will be happy to see their payrolls decrease.
They will pass the increased cost on to the consumer.
And, even if by some miracle they all agree to take a pay cut to make the consumer and Chinese workers happy, don't expect every company who uses Foxconn to follow the same model.
We're talking about corporate greed here, and you've clearly underestimated the power of Apple to capitalize on corporate greed. They are not the humanitarian company that their dictator Steve Jobs would want people to believe.
Just wondering exactly how many of these protesters are going to give up their advanced electronic devices? The working conditions are lousy with bad bosses and all of this is news? Consumers do have a way to effect the company whichever one is causing the latest cause of the day; vote with your dollars. The hacking into the company's data base takes away from the protesters moral position.
Apple would not have to raise their prices by one penny and the workers could be treated much better. Apple makes a PROFIT of $1billion a week or a total of about $52billion a year.
There are about 400,000 people in China making the product, for a PROFIT of about $130,000 per Chinese person making product each year. The workers make $2000-3000 per year. They could double the pay or hire twice as many people in China, which would only cost them another $3000 per employee. That would reduce their profit per Chinese worker to $127,000 per year, or $50,800,000,000 instead of $52,000,000,000.
There would be no need to increase prices at all. If they cannot live with a PROFIT of ~$51billion instead of $52billion and have a workforce that is treated decently then something is wrong.
On top of that, they could even produce in the US and pay people a huge salary of $60,000 for assembly workers instead of paying Chinese $3000. That would reduce their per worker profit to $70,000. That would bring their PROFIT down to $28billion. It would create hundreds of thousands of high paying jobs in the US, and they could still turn a huge PROFIT without raising prices at all.
techno msnbc......
I am appalled that you left out the biggest abuser of sending jobs to CHINA:
Wait a minute, the CEO GE is Mr. Obama's JOBS CZAR and is supposed to be looking out for American Jobs.....yet he is continually sending jobs to CHINA.
It is high time the PROTESTERS go to the White House lawn and park themselves in front of the CEO's home.
That ratio seems about right. That's about the ratio my company makes off me... perhaps a little higher even and I'm in the US.
I was thinking the same thing. But I am also wondering why people keep referring to FoxConn's workers as Apple's employees they're not employees of Apple they are employees of FoxConn. FoxConn is not a US Company and is not subject to US Labor Law and any contractual obligation is limited to what can be prosecuted under Chinese Labor Law and to a limited degree International Labor Law.
So let's get all in Apple's grill for something that the entire industry of technology producers should be on the hook for. One company being pressured will not help these people whether Apple is a leader or not.
I am sure most people have no idea that Lenovo has Chinese facilities that are exactly like FoxConn's right down to the barracks.
Ido
Nice non-fact you pulled out of your a@s. You seem real good at that. Check out apple.
Oh, just to info you. When you see a politician with a (r) at the end of their name. It means that they are republicans, not democrats.
Have any of you even read the NYT articles?
First, Apple was a late comer to requiring improved conditions for the workers of their suppliers. They just started doing it because everyone else was.
Second, they were also last in the industry to conduct audits of their suppliers to make sure they were conforming.
Third, they are one of the worst for rewarding suppliers for compliance. As stated in the aticles other US companies would actually pay a higher price/ piece when their suppliers were found to be in compliance. While Apple would inform them on a yearly basis that they would be paying them x% less this year, and they could take it or Apple would find a new supplier.
Man, I miss working at the foxconn factory. I remember this one time my friend and i were watching a line of iPods for quality control and thought, 'bo-ring!' so i hatched a great idea. I took off my glove and put it over one of the ipod touches. It went rolling down the line, waving at everyone. I never got that glove back but the look on my coworkers faces were worth it. Good times.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a couple of friends who worked with me: Lennisan and Squiggimon. A real pair of meatballs. One time Lennisan wanted to go off on his own so he had an embroiderer put the words 'Lone Wolf' on the back of his jacket. But the Embroyderer left off the 'L' and it read 'One Wolf'. it didn't quite have the same impact. He and Squiggimon made up though.
Good times. Good times.
Because they don't read Wikipedia.[citation needed]
Do they need an app for that?
I think these protesters are a bunch of Hypocrites. Most all their electronic are made in China.
G_Reaper, because you are my favorite, link added.
After reading the wiki entry on Foxconn, I just have one minor question...
A) Suicide is not the answer, and for even thinking that is radically and morally unethical!
B) I find it in very poor taste for a company to not compensate after they were told they would be compensated for quitting...tho quitting a job doesn't mean a company has to pay you again...woah it like reversed itself, need an explanation please!
@the author... do you REALLY think a mac user HACKED anything? Really? I don't think a self respecting computer geek would use a mac for anything other than graphic design or music editing. If those.
Mac users can't hack their way out of their Itunes.
@Andrew... Well done. +1
MAC users are repugnant.
most hackers run variations of Linux which Steve Jobs copied, changed a few things and called it Mac OS.
Mac kernel - XNU
Linux kernel - GNU
only real differences other than gui design is Linux is completely open source, while Steve Jobs was the Mac OS closed-source nazi.....
Can't argue with that.
Not just that, under the user terms, you're not even allowed to run Mac OS on a non-Apple computer even if you legitimately purchased the product. Why Apple has never been as diligently pursued as Microsoft for antitrust is beyond my comprehension.
They have lots of money and political pull through lobbying money probably? Just a guess tho.
Not everyone who uses a computer has the desire to hack other people computers, just like not everyone who drives a car has the desire to jack other people's cars. By your statement, PC users generally have criminal intent, and that makes them better and smarter somehow? Ok. Personally, I have more respect for the person who uses their computer for work, creativity, music, design, writing, connecting – you know, productive stuff.
P.S. Bill Gates also ripped of Unix for his crap windows system! Bill and Jobs were partners in crime so to speak!!
It's ironic that Apple has become the same sort of rigid bureaucratic uncaring "Big Brother" corporation that they had decried in 1984.
Bill Gates purchased DOS then went into business with IBM which is where NT came from and stole most of their interface concepts from Apple. Apple of course got their GUI ideas from Xerox who didn't feel anyone would want to use a GUI with a mouse.
Powershell is Bill's answer to Bash and Korn, although it has its upsides will never be a Unix/Linux CLI.
Putting an 'X' in front of everything makes it elite, so I wonder why they went with the 'i'??
...or an 'A', but not for the word 'Apple' :-P
...Apple sucks.
This is what happens when the cult leader who creates a culture of only we are the best dies. The mindless followers start eating their own.
A few idiots protesting the usual leftist string of complaints does not reflect any kind of growing unease on the part of American consumers. Don't make it out to be something it's not. The amount of journalists was probably more than the number of protesters. As for the point, no mindless Apple consumer cares about where it's made.
A few idiots formed our country. even if these protesters are largely comfortable middle/upper class, I wouldn't dismiss them. They may help the whole country, if only for a few minutes, think about the latest tech toy in their hand as something more than just a throwaway.
I'm an Apple user. I'm far from mindless. And I absolutely do care where my products come from. I've written my own letter to Apple to let them know I'm disgusted with them.
Renee...did you also send a letter to every electronics company from your TV to Blue Ray player as well? FoxConn produces products for just about every electronics manufacturer out there.
I bet all these protesters are wearing designer clothes and accessories that come from similar factories in China.
The fact that they're wearing clothes at all probably means the apparel is from China.
I like how they'll gladly protest against Apple & foxcon, but meanwhile every single one of them has some kind of cell phone on them and as a result they're supporting the awful conditions that exist in the tantalite mines of the Congo...by far one of the worst places on the face of the earth for everyone who doesn't own a mine or hold some kind of government position.
Congratulations to these self righteous idiots for having the courage to stand up to such an evil empire.
Sono - you've made the point for the protesters. It's really hard to buy American because there isn't much that's made in America anymore. Of course all their cell phones and clothes were made in China. That's the problem. Does that mean they shouldn't protest? No. It means they should. Because Apple is a leader, not just in their industry, but in business, they are the ones to target, because they have the power to make a change. That's what this is about.
They protest because they are a very visible target, and they just posted huge profits. So they have huge profits, and pay the people making their stuff crap. If other companies were putting up the huge numbers that Apple is and treating the workers like crap, they would probably be protesting against them instead.
It has to start somewhere. If they can force Apple to clean up their act, then maybe others will follow suit. Apple can clearly afford it but just does not care enough.
More probelms brought to you by greed
enjoy yer Itoys
I'm sure all the hipsters would love when prices increase by a healthy margin to make more "moral" apple products
Lol yeah, gotta love those vegan/vegetarian, "I don't like to take showers", I dress in skinny jeans, buy every apple product non-conformists huh?
The funny thing is that the prices Apple is already charging would not have to increase much if they are made in the states. Did you see how much profit Apple made last Q?
Yes - Big corporations are all the same. As long as they keep their fat margin, they will happily pass all extra costs onto the consumer.
What american workers are you waking up at 2am to restructure an existing spec design from scratch? Answer, none
They would probably have to give them a cup of coffee and two biscuits instead of the cup of tea and biscuit they gave the Chinese workers.
They could pay the US worker 10x what they pay the Chinese worker and hire twice as many just in case they needed some to come in and work in a special circumstance. They would still make billions of dollars a year in PROFITS.
It really just comes down to them wanting to be able to do whatever they want to a worker and to make obscenely high PROFITS.
Yeah? you don't get out much if you believe this.
At least all the pseudo-hippy Apple users have something to do beyond gloating about how awesome and unique they are.
Say what?
Apple like most corporations these days has sold out the American people. They all know working conditions suck, safety is not issue, workers wages and benefits are ridiculously cheap, and they do not have to worry about any pollutionlaws or Unions. Basically they can walk all over their workers and their workers can do nothing about it. Our politicians especially conservatives truly believe and are told this by these corporations that if we lower their taxes, and decrease regulations they will create jobs. This of course is a lye, no manner of tax cuts or decrease in regulations unless we go back to the time when American children were working in sweat shops will ever stop these greedy corporate aholes from outsourcing American jobs. I say if you are an American company that is outsourcing jobs you pay double in taxes or just try to take your whole business to China, were it is not wanted. They want to and are having their cake and eating it too. There corporate greed and record breaking profits come at the expense of our countries long term economic stability, as we are noticing right now.
Why don't you jerks protest against our pols for running our country down the tubes, then you can take on China's problems ?
For the same reason they don't go to China with their protests. They want to state their views, but they also want to leave the room when the fight starts.
I want better working conditions for the Taiwanese as long as my I-phone still only costs $199!
You could always get an Android, many of which are free with a contract and not made by any of the companies that employ Foxconn workers.
Except, oh wait, it's not an Apple product. Holy Brand Loyalty Batman, that changes the whole equation!
And of course all Android phones are made with U.S. standard working conditions and laws to protect the Chinese Android workers.
It's only the Apple producers that exploit workers.
No Apple is the only company that portrayed that they didn't exploit workers. Subtle difference.
@ CJ-2001013: Apple isn't the only phone manufacturer that employs Foxconn. Among Foxconn's major customers are Samsung, Motorola, Sony, & Nokia. Are you sure that none of those companies use Foxconn to make their phones?
The reason Apple sources all production out and does it out of the country is exactly for this reason. Plausible deniability.....................
Apple may be transparent, but until these slave conditions end, doesn't mean a thing. As long as the almighty $ is involved there will always be slaves feeding the consumers.
Bet they will be in line for the iPad 3 or the iPhone 5 regardless....
Will they? What if one percent change their mind.
Then the other 99% will protest the 1% that left! Zing! :)
Like lemmings, totally like lemmings. Just remember:
"The next big thing is already here!"
Thank you Android :-)
"They work women like men and men like animals" - A cry from a modern day "Cosette" (Chen) from inside an Apple-FoxConn-Military-Industrial-Prison
i thought men & women should get equal pay
Who is surprised at conditions in a poor country? Why do you think that the corporations left America? Anyone who trusts business is just a spokeshole for the koch bros and other one percenters.
As a person who prefers style with substance, I'm an Apple user, an iMac anyway, and I like it!! As to the article in the NYT, with Apple saying only oversea's workers can build their stuff, and that's why they are there, but really, it's only about money. With Apple making about $1,000,000 a week in profit and they can't have better facilities, BS. The way I feel about Apple now, I wouldn't buy either an iPhone or an iPad even if I needed one, and I'm a very long time Apple user, 25+years even. Aloha.
Try $7,000,000,000 ($7 billion) a week in net profit.
Tim makes about $7,000,000 per week.
Try again they are not Apple's facilities they are FoxConn's. Something people seem to be forgetting. Yes, they make Apple's products but Apple does not own the facility, nor are these Apple employees and a similar US company would never be able to keep up with the level of production for global demand with sales in over 100 countries.
Not to mention that costs would spiral, something US people don't want, for all sorts of products if they were actually made in the US because nearly all the components would have to be imported. Even if we had the relative infrastructure and raw materials US companies would never be able to produce for a global market the same way Asian countries can...simply because there really is more of them than there are of us. Not to mention a lot of Americans are lazy and want top dollar for typical lower wage positions to feed their own brand of consumptive behavior.
OMG APPLE U R BIG MEANIES! PLZ STOP. KTHXBYE. - posted from iPhone
[/sarcasm]
Truly a beautiful series of events. The liberal San Francisco hypocrites exposed for what they are. Bravo!
Seriously, nothing to do with politics... go away.
This is a stupid protest. If we should be protesting anything, it is that American companies send all their work to China rather than keeping them in America. But they have no choice as US laws encourage the practice rather than discouraging it. Keep work in America and you can't be competitive. So business must sacrifice the American worker in order to keep themselves in business. That is the real issue. This isn't a problem exclusive to Apple.
"But they have no choice as US laws encourage the practice rather than discouraging it."
B.S.
Chinese manufacturing workers make 50 cents an hour. Our standard of living is not competitive with 50 cents an hour. There is NOTHING that government can do or stop doing that will make our standard of living competitive with 50 cents an hour.
Apple should be ashamed.
BRING THOSE JOBS BACK TO AMERICA WHERE THEY BELONG.
The leaders of these AMERICAN corporations need to stop acting like they are Chinese.
And why should they bring them back to america when they have similar, if not better workers at a fraction of the price?
Better is pushing it... More 'compliant' is more like it.
Did you see the part of the original times article where Jobs said that the technical workers needed to produce products in the US don't exist here? I would classify that as better.
Steve Jobs was full of crap with that statement of technical workers. Anyone in the US can wipe glass with their hands. US Workers use a machine press on metal all the time.
Michael....WHY should they bring them back? WHY??
how about because they are AMERICAN and they get all the perks and benefits that comes with being an American.
You miss a bigger issue that is going on here with American jobs going over to China.....their is a much bigger more sinister byproduct of this that many of them are secrectly embracing.......sending jobs over to China is DRIVING DOWN AMERICAN WAGES, which means reducing our standard of living.
There was a time when corporate goals meshed with American goals. They no longer do.
I told you so.... Apple CEO SCHMUCK! How's the big profits working out for you? Soon many companies who continue to reap benefits of the backs of the common person will be subject to exposure, boycotts and possible threats. Pay your friggin' workers monetary respect, health benefits and a living wage! Pay structure should be considered from the bottom up.... Not the top down!
Chinese govt. should be telling a chinese company which is in China.. And what about the computer you are using now? Made in the USA? Tell me!!. Don't buy anything made in China including other third world country, See what happens then
Shankar: I don't own one product from Apple.... You're correct about almost every product coming from China/ Asia. I only repair my products and look for every possibility to buy an American product when possible.... Americans must start to protest buying Chinese products and start buying American. Our country loses enough cash overseas that's sent home from foreigners living here... We must try.
Shankar: I forgot to give you a thumbs up... Looking forward to the day America can break free from the Chinese government... Until then... trying my hardest to buy American.
I buy American when possible, and if available. I go to various stores at the local mall and ask the clerks/salespersons if they carry anything American. You should see the look!. The last TV I bought was a Phillips Magnovox some 20 years ago made in Tennessee. Now I have a LG. Times are changing.
Shankar: Agreed "...various stores at the local mall and ask the clerks/salespersons if they carry anything American..." I get the same looks from the clerks. I am using an old computer, but I still have to buy foreign parts. (frustrating) I also buy local produce whenever possible, but I admit I do buy produce sometimes from other countries. It's really hard to buy American products. :D)
Someone needs to make a Made in USA catalog. I would gladly pay for one. I buy American whenever possible and don't buy anything made in China unless it is something I really need. I have been using Gateway computers for years and they used to be made in USA, now they are made in China and are crap.
Alykatma: agreed.
a big part of the problem is these American corporations have decided it makes more sense to act like they are Chinese and make the products in China and then sell them to America rather than the other way around because there is only a 2.5% import tax on "chinese" goods sold in America, whereas the import tax on American goods to China is 25%.
it's completely ridiculous. And we wonder why we are falling behind.
Rob: astute observation... thumbs up. :D)
There was a time you could believe NY Times. No more. They are acting like FAUX News. I bet you most of the electronics used by NY Times was produced by Foxconn. Shame on you.
Why shame? Because we can only buy electronics made in China by Foxconn, or someone just like Foxconn? Nobody has a choice.
You can get a custom built computer in USA but parts will still be from China. everything electronic comes from China except for Bose products which I do use, their quality can't be beat.