Report accuses Apple of ignoring labor issues in China
Report accuses Apple of ignoring labor issues in China
A new report by China Labor Watch accuses Apple of overlooking irregular and abusive work conditions at Foxconn Zhengzhou, one of its key suppliers. Here are the details.
6 years later, it appears little has changed
China Labor Watch was founded in 2000, and describes itself as “an independent not-for-profit organization that advocates for workers’ rights, and supports the Chinese labor movement.”
Throughout the years, the group has criticized and called attention to numerous alleged labor violations taking place at Apple suppliers, particularly at Pegatron and Foxconn.
This week, China Labor Profit released a study comparing 2025 work conditions at Foxconn Zhengzhou with those in its 2019 report on the same factory.
And while the report highlights the elimination of underage workers in 2025, in contrast to vocational school minors documented in 2019, it concludes that this was basically the sole improvement.
From the report:
“It is important to note that the Chinese authorities are not unaware of the aformentioned (sic) issues at Apple’s supplier factories. Instead, it has tolerated them in exchange for Apple’s technology transfers to China. One outcome of this bargain is that the new iPhone 17 is being mass-produced at Foxconn Zhengzhou. In addition, these findings demonstrate that far from being corrected, issues promised to address in 2019 remain in 2025, as summarized below.”
They note that issues such as “wage system,” “ethnic/regional discrimination,” “information control, and “occupational safety” have worsened between 2019 and 2025, while issues such as “overtime hours,” “use of students,” “wage levels,” “training,” “union,” “gender/pregnancy discrimination,” and “dormitory conditions” remained unchanged.
The report also notes that wages in 2025 were unchanged from 2019, with the official base pay remaining between 2,100 and 2,400 RMB (about $294–$336), rising to roughly 3,000 RMB ($420) with overtime and bonuses.
Apple responds
When asked about the report by The Straits Times, Apple said that it is “firmly committed to the highest standards of labour, human rights, environmental and ethical conduct”. The company also added:
“Our suppliers are required to provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, act fairly and ethically, and use environmentally responsible practices wherever they make products or perform services for Apple. (…) We regularly conduct third-party audits, and anytime an issue is raised anywhere in our supply chain, we move swiftly to ensure that our high standards are upheld. In this case, Apple teams were on site and began an immediate investigation.”
You can read the full report here.
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