Workers In Apple Supplier's Flextronics Plant In Malaysia Used As 'Bonded' Labour
Global manufacturing giant Flextronics International, which supplies components for Apple has been accused of virtually imprisoning workers in indentured servitude.
By Sadho Ram — 08 Nov 2013, 08:20 PM — Updated almost 11 years ago
Just a few weeks prior to the release of the iPhone 5′s release last year, recruiters in Asia actually sold jobs to migrant workers for hundreds of dollars
A Bloomberg Businessweek report reveals how, following last year’s iPhone 5 announcement, the pressure to produce components for the new Apple smartphone resulted in workers on factory lines being forced into debt and indentured servitude.
The report details the push to find workers to produce the iPhone 5’s 8-megapixel camera, and the means by which companies like Flextronics International, one of Apple’s largest suppliers, recruit for positions on factory assembly lines.
todaysiphone.com
According to Bloomberg, companies recruit across the poor cities and villages of Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Nepal to staff up the army of workers needed to create components.
businessweek.com
To accomplish that task, recruiters hire brokers, who charge families high fees — often a year's worth of wages, with interest — for the opportunity to work on the supply side.
Factory workers were reportedly also obliged to surrender their passports to brokers to ensure they paid off their debts
This practice amounts to the very same kind of bonded labor that Apple has tried to combat in its recent supply-chain audits.
businessweek.com
At the Flextronics plant in Bukit Raja, which is no longer part of Apple's supply chain, Nepalese Bibek Dhong was unable to leave for home as his visa was retained by the company even after the Flextronics plant ceased production due to high failure rates.
themalaysianinsider.com
According to Bloomberg, Flextronics has commissioned an outside group to conduct an investigation into the fees being foisted on recruits. Apple spokesperson Chris Gaither told Bloomberg that the company will ensure that "the right payments have been made."
businessweek.com
Because Flextronics retained Dhong's visa, he was unable to leave, stuck in a hostel in Malaysia with no food
After two months, when he was permitted to return home, he had to sell off a big portion of his land to pay off his debts, because when the hiring process began, Dhong paid $250 (about RM800) and handed over his passport to a recruiter who promised him a good job.
macrumors.com
He was forced to pay another $500 to a broker (six months of his wages from his former job as a dairy farmer) and sign a debt agreement stating that he would pay $400 more.
themalaysianinsider.com
He was told to keep his broker fees secret, as Apple has a policy that prevents excessive charges by recruiters.
Ahead of the launch of the iPhone 5 in September, Flextronics had hired 1,500 new employees via brokers and recruiters in Nepal, Malaysia, and surrounding areas and this is how Dhong ended up at the Flextronics plant.
Families are known to pay upfront fees to brokers to acquire the positions, resulting in loans that can take workers years to pay off, with factory managers controlling when workers are able to leave, the report stated.
themalaysianinsider.com
According to an Apple spokesman, the company aggressively investigates claims of bonded labour where its products are made
"We aggressively investigate any claims of bonded labour where Apple products are made, and our team is continuously auditing deeper into the supply chain," said the spokesperson.
Inside a Flextronics factory in Fort Worth, Texas. Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal
Image via macrumors.comAdding; "We recently updated our code of conduct to require our suppliers to directly interview workers who are hired through labour brokers, as another way of eliminating unethical practices."
themalaysianinsider.com
"Although Flextronics's Bukit Raja facility is no longer in Apple's supply chain, we take these allegations extremely seriously."
forbes.com