tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67910347363972939352024-03-17T20:02:22.132-07:00Unhealthy WorkBlog of the Center for Social EpidemiologyPLSchnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14769024988823648519noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-43309375195291807502017-10-12T12:20:00.003-07:002017-10-12T12:21:55.552-07:00NIOSH Interviews Working on Empty Filmmakers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Below is an excerpt from our interview. The NIOSH Total Worker Health newsletter reaches 70,000+ individuals across the country and abroad. To read the entire interview, please visit: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/twh/newsletter/twhnewsv6n3.html#2" rel="noopener" style="color: #76a0b0; outline: none;" target="_blank">https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/twh/newsletter/twhnewsv6n3.html#2</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why did you decide to create Working on Empty?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Many people have been researching the impact of work on health for decades. A substantial body of literature shows that working conditions impact the mental and physical well-being of workers. Work plays a major role in burnout, depression, anxiety, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />We believe that the public, in general, doesn’t understand well the relationship between work and health. There is a belief that stress is good because it helps you work harder and be more productive. However, if we are chronically stressed from work—e.g. because of feeling threatened by job insecurity, being unclear about the criteria for performance evaluations, not having enough control at work, etc. —it leads to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />One intent of making the film is to point out that stress related to work and poor working conditions is not inevitable. The poor health outcomes that we just described are partly the consequence of the way work is organized. They are preventable, and we need to do something to prevent them. Companies feel a constant pressure to increase productivity, some by going “lean” and, as a result, people are working harder and longer. We believe that many businesses don’t understand the consequences when they increase work demands. It results in worse health and more disability claims, absenteeism, sick days, and presenteeism. Productivity goes down when work hours exceed 40 hours per week. If companies knew more about these costs, they could rethink how they manage work, avoid situations with excessive demands, and increase engagement.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-54657181796480726542015-12-03T16:35:00.001-08:002015-12-04T10:14:43.312-08:00Los Angeles Fight for 15 March<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Erin Wigger, a member of The Center for Social Epidemiology team, joined in the recent downtown Los Angeles Fight for 15 march which was demanding a $15 minimum wage and the right to form a union without retaliation. Several thousand people were in attendance, fast-food workers, home care workers, child care workers, union members, and organizers. Demonstrators gathered at a local McDonald's before making their way to City Hall. The march, part of a nationwide protest spanning 270 cities, was sponsored by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who's current efforts in Los Angeles are focused on organizing fast-food workers.<br />
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Erin spoke to several key organizers for Fight for 15, as well as one protester willing to share her story. Gloria Vergara, a home health care worker with 40 years of experience, recently lost her job when her elderly charge needed permanent hospitalization. She says she's been looking for work but has found few real prospects. Gloria states that she loves what she does and feels her work is meaningful and an absolute necessity for those she helps, but Gloria also spoke of the ceaseless pressures of taking care of another person 24/7, the often invisible and unpaid work she's required to do, not having enough time to do it, the out of pocket costs, having little to no job security and chronic stress. She says it "feels like slavery". Gloria and her niece Idianna (both pictured below), who is also a home health care worker, have both been studying to become certified nurses but are having trouble managing their time and the cost of studying. They agree that raising the minimum wage is a necessary beginning to the changes needed in their industry.<br />
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The call for a raise in the minimum wage (which is currently $7.25 an hour and has been unchanged since 2009) has been resounding louder and even made it into Tuesday night's GOP debate. The question, whether candidates were sympathetic to Fight for 15 protester's cause, was unequivocally rejected by all. Donald Trump went so far as to assert our "wages are too high."<br />
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Despite a lack of federal legislation, some progress has been made. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an order for public employees at the minimum wage to be paid $15 an hour by 2018, in Los Angeles the L.A. City Council and L.A. Board of Supervisors approved a law that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, and Seattle voted last year to raise its minimum to $15 by 2017.<br />
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<a href="http://fightfor15.org/">http://fightfor15.org/</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-72395995748515988092015-11-18T14:30:00.002-08:002015-11-18T14:31:39.892-08:00Debunking Anti-Union Myths<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Everyone should check out this YouTube video of a Professor talking about and debunking anti-union myths. She makes important points that are often overlooked when talking about the importance of organized labor – esp. that individuals who are not in a union have a difficult time enforcing their labor rights and protections without reprisals from employers. Unions have the power to act collectively to protect and enforce labor laws. The film also makes a case about how rampant wage theft is…</span><br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_dj4-QWBtjs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-65678744642080382522015-01-02T09:01:00.000-08:002015-01-02T09:01:16.884-08:00Apple 'failing to protect Chinese factory workers'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #505050;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
below is an article by BBC journalist Richard Bilton on the discoveries he and
several undercover investigators made at Pegatron, an Apple supplier, as well
as problems with Apple's sourcing of raw materials. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSvT02q4h40" target="_blank">You can watch a short clip of the program here</a>.<br />
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #505050;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #505050;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By
Richard Bilton</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #505050;">BBC
Panorama</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Filming
on an iPhone 6 production line showed Apple's promises to protect workers were
routinely broken.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It found
standards on workers' hours, ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile
workers were being breached at the Pegatron factories.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apple
said it strongly disagreed with the programme's conclusions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exhausted
workers were filmed falling asleep on their 12-hour shifts at the Pegatron
factories on the outskirts of Shanghai.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One
undercover reporter, working in a factory making parts for Apple computers, had
to work 18 days in a row despite repeated requests for a day off.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another
reporter, whose longest shift was 16 hours, said: "Every time I got back
to the dormitories, I wouldn't want to move.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Even
if I was hungry I wouldn't want to get up to eat. I just wanted to lie down and
rest. I was unable to sleep at night because of the stress."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #505050;">'Continuous
improvement'</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apple
declined to be interviewed for the programme, but said in a statement: "We
are aware of no other company doing as much as Apple to ensure fair and safe
working conditions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We
work with suppliers to address shortfalls, and we see continuous and
significant improvement, but we know our work is never done."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apple
said it was a very common practice for workers to nap during breaks, but it
would investigate any evidence they were falling asleep while working.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It said
it monitored the working hours of more than a million workers and that staff at
Pegatron were averaging 55 hours a week.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The poor
conditions in Chinese factories were highlighted in 2010 when 14 workers killed
themselves at Apple's biggest supplier, Foxconn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following
the suicides, Apple published a set of standards spelling out how factory workers
should be treated. It also moved some of its production work to Pegatron's
factories on the outskirts of Shanghai.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
Panorama's undercover reporters found that these standards were routinely
breached on the factory floor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overtime
is supposed to be voluntary, but none of the reporters were offered any choice.
In addition to the excessive hours, one reporter had to attend unpaid meetings
before and after work. Another reporter was housed in a dormitory where 12
workers shared a cramped room.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apple says
the dormitory overcrowding has now been resolved and that it requires suppliers
to retroactively pay workers if it finds they haven't been paid for work
meetings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pegatron
said it was carefully investigating Panorama's claims and would take all necessary
action if any deficiencies were found at their facilities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Worker
safety and well-being are our top priorities. We set very high standards,
conduct rigorous training for managers and workers, and have external auditors
regularly visiting our facilities to find areas for improvement," a
statement said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #505050;">Dangerous
conditions</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Panorama
also travelled further down Apple's supply chain to the Indonesian island of
Bangka.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apple
says it is dedicated to the ethical sourcing of minerals, but the programme
found evidence that tin from illegal mines could be entering its supply chain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It found
children digging tin ore out by hand in extremely dangerous conditions - miners
can be buried alive when the walls of sand or mud collapse.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twelve-year-old
Rianto was working with his dad at the bottom of a 70-foot cliff of sand. He
said: "I worry about landslides. The earth slipping from up there to the
bottom. It could happen."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Panorama
tracked down a gang who collect tin from the area where Rianto was working. One
of them said they sold tin to a smelter on Apple's list of suppliers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Johan
Murod, who runs one of the smelters on Apple's list, said 70% of the tin that
is exported comes from the small-scale mines.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"At
the smelter there's everything from both large and small scale mines. It's all
mixed. There's no way to know what is legal and what is illegal."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apple
says it is a complex situation on Bangka with tens of thousands of miners
selling tin through many middle men.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The
simplest course of action would be for Apple to unilaterally refuse any tin
from Indonesian mines. That would be easy for us to do and would certainly
shield us from criticism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"But
that would also be the lazy and cowardly path, since it would do nothing to
improve the situation. We have chosen to stay engaged and attempt to drive
changes on the ground."</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-87082580114321011342014-12-26T19:31:00.001-08:002014-12-26T19:32:20.368-08:00Apple supplier Pegatron plans changes after BBC report on worker mistreatment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</div>
Appleinsider.com published the below article by Katie Marasl this past Monday, December 22.<br />
<div>
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="text-align: left;">"In response to a BBC investigation alleging mistreatment of workers at one of its factories, Apple partner Pegatron has vowed to look into the matter and implement any necessary improvements.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="text-align: left;">In a statement </span><a href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20141222PM200.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: none; outline: none; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">issued to</a><span style="text-align: left;"> the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Pegatron Technology said on Monday that plans to investigate the claims that appeared last week in the BBC report. The company also said that employee safety is its top priority, and it is working to ensure all of its workers are safe.</span><span style="line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="text-align: left;">Pegatron also touted the strict training it requires for its employees and management, and noted it uses external inspectors to audit its facilities.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="text-align: left;">The statement made no mention of Apple, but </span><em style="background-color: transparent; text-align: left;">BBC One</em><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/12/18/undercover-video-shows-alleged-worker-rights-violations-at-apple-supplier" style="background-color: transparent; border: none; outline: none; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">focused on</a><span style="text-align: left;"> Pegatron's relationship with the iPhone maker, exposing multiple instances of poor treatment of workers on one of its production lines. The investigation by BBC Panorama used hidden cameras to discover a variety of infractions violating Apple's own Supplier Responsibility report, including illegal ID card confiscation, excessive working hours, poor living conditions, and underage workers.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="text-align: left;">But the report itself has also come under fire, as </span><a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/12/19/apple-slams-bbc-report-on-suppliers-says-provided-facts-were-clearly-missing-from-broadcast" style="background-color: transparent; border: none; outline: none; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Apple responded</a><span style="text-align: left;"> last week with an internal memo saying officials at the company were "deeply offended" by the allegations made in the telecast. Apple executive Jeff Williams said certain details provided by the company to the </span><em style="background-color: transparent; text-align: left;">BBC</em><span style="text-align: left;"> were "clearly missing" from the special that aired on the news channel last week.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="text-align: left;">Williams noted that that Apple's audits and tracking show that it has achieved an average of 93 percent compliance with its 60-hour workweek limit. He also admitted that the company can do better, and vowed that it will.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="text-align: left;">'We know of no other company doing as much as Apple does to ensure fair and safe working conditions, to discover and investigate problems, to fix and follow through when issues arise, and to provide transparency into the operations of our suppliers,' Williams wrote."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Foxconn" class="lazy" src="http://cdn1.appleinsider.com/foxconn-121016.jpg" data-original="http://cdn1.appleinsider.com/foxconn-121016.jpg" pagespeed_url_hash="675927318" style="display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-2610563047305530882014-12-21T14:45:00.001-08:002014-12-23T15:28:20.186-08:00Excessive Work Hours Still the Rule at Apple Suppliers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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While Foxconn has received media attention in the last few years for deplorable working conditions and the consequent suicides of some of its workers, there are other Chinese factories within the Apple supply chain guilty of the same, if not worse, practices. These practices, which include excessive work hours, low wages and lack of work breaks, are against Apple’s supplier code of conduct as well as many Chinese labor laws.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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One such plant, investigated and reported on by China Labor Watch (CLW), is Jabil Wuxi. CLW published a scathing report in September of 2013 of the many labor violations it found Jabil guilty of including hiring discrimination, imposed hiring fees, lack of safety training and gear, 110 hours of overtime per month, mandatory and sometimes unpaid overtime, a lack of effective grievance channels, occupational safety hazards, etc. Some workers were said to have been forced to stand for 11 consecutive hours during a shift while only receiving half-hour meal breaks (1, 2, 3).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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On their website, Apple claims 95 percent of its manufacturers comply with it's standard of no more than 60 hours per week, the Chinese legal limit is 49 hours (5, 1). Apple also claims, in response to these accusations, that the Jabil plant has an "excellent track record" of compliance with Apple standards. Apple did, in fact, complete an audit in early 2013 which found that some Jabil employees had worked more than six consecutive days, but added that the factory was working towards better regulating overtime. Jabil responded separately that it would correct any issues found when it conducted its own audit (4).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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One year later, little seems to have changed at the factory. According to CLW, who investigated the plant for a second time in September of 2014, working conditions had not gotten better but may in fact have gotten worse since sales of the iPhone 6 have continued to soar and Jabil production lines are straining to keep up with demand. CLW claims workers at Jabil “perform even more overtime (up to 158 hours), where they are not permitted to talk or even look up from their work,” while working in unsafe buildings that are still under construction and where ceiling slabs have been reported to fall down around the production line (1).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here again, given the repeated reports of abuses at many factories, it is difficult to believe that Apple is doing everything in it's power to prevent such conditions. If CLW’s findings are representative of the working environment at Jabil, Apple has failed to make good, as yet, on its promise of improved labor practices within its supply chain. This is perhaps especially true in the wake of newly released Apple products and where demands for increased production of iphones have soared.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/report/103" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">1. </span><span style="color: black;">http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/report/103</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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2. <a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2013/09/05/advocacy-group-alleges-labor-violations-at-jabil-china-plant/"><span style="color: black;">http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2013/09/05/advocacy-group-alleges-labor-violations-at-jabil-china-plant/</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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3. <a href="http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/report/69"><span style="color: black;">http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/report/69</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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4. <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2484665/it-management/apple--jabil-to-investigate-alleged-labor-violations-at-china-factory.html">http://www.computerworld.com/article/2484665/it-management/apple--jabil-to-investigate-alleged-labor-violations-at-china-factory.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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5. <a href="http://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility">http://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility</a>/</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-66859555214798508192014-11-12T15:11:00.000-08:002014-11-12T15:11:38.237-08:00"I Fall Asleep, Just Standing Like That"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">On September 30, 2014 yet another
Foxconn worker committed suicide. Xu Lizhi was 24 when he died at Foxconn’s
Shenzhen plant after working there for four years. A post from Libcom.org’s Nao
blog has translated Xu’s obituary as well as several of the poems Xu wrote
about his life at the factory, several of which were published in Foxconn’s internal newsletter, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Foxconn People</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">We wanted to share a few of
these with our readership in order to keep awareness of the conditions of
Chinese migrant workers alive and highlight the need for further progress in these
factories towards creating humane working conditions for their workers. Besides describing the feelings of one young
worker’s devastating struggle, they are also heartbreakingly beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Please visit <a href="https://libcom.org/blog/xulizhi-foxconn-suicide-poetry" target="_blank">Libcom.org’s Naoblog for the full article and translations</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"I Fall Asleep, Just Standing Like
That"<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">"The paper before my
eyes fades yellow</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">With a steel pen I chisel on
it uneven black</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Full of working words</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Workshop, assembly line,
machine, work card, overtime, wages ...</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">They've trained me to become
docile</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Don't know how to shout or
rebel</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">How to complain or denounce</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Only how to silently suffer
exhaustion</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I first set foot in this
place</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">I hoped only for that grey
pay slip on the tenth of each month</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">To grant me some belated
solace</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">For this I had to grind away
my corners, grind away my words</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Refuse to skip work, refuse
sick leave, refuse leave for private reasons</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Refuse to be late, refuse to
leave early</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">By the assembly line I stood
straight like iron, hands like flight,</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">How many days, how many
nights</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Did I - just like that -
standing fall asleep?"</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">- 20 August 2011</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">"The Last Graveyard"</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even the machine is nodding off<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sealed workshops store diseased iron<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Wages concealed behind curtains<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Like the love that young workers bury at the
bottom of their hearts<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">With no time for expression, emotion crumbles
into dust<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They have stomachs forged of iron<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Full of thick acid, sulfuric and nitric<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Industry captures their tears before they have
the chance to fall<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Time flows by, their heads lost in fog<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Output weighs down their age, pain works
overtime day and night<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In their lives, dizziness before their time is
latent<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The jig forces the skin to peel<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And while it's at it, plates on a layer of
aluminum alloy<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some still endure, while others are taken by
illness<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I am dozing between them, guarding<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The last graveyard of our youth.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #1f1e23; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">- 21
December 2011<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-68073648779095348992013-12-24T10:35:00.000-08:002013-12-24T10:35:23.661-08:00A 15-year old worker dies of pneumonia at Pegatron! Was it preventable? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">China
Labor Watch and the New York Times reported this past December 11<sup>th</sup>
on another death at Pegatron’s Shanghai plant (an Apple Corporation contracted
supplier of the new iPhone 5C) that employs 100,000 Chinese workers (1,3). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">On
October 9<sup>th</sup> Shi Zhaokun, a 15-year-old Chinese laborer, checked
himself into a hospital and passed away shortly thereafter of pneumonia. Shi
had been hired using his cousin’s identity card that stated he was 20 (1, 3).
The legal working age in China is 16. Documents provided from his family show
he had worked 79 hours in his first week, 77 in his second and 75 in his third,
all in violation of Chinese law (and Apple’s supplier responsibility
commitment) prohibiting more than 60 hour work weeks. In his only month at
Pegatron Shi worked nearly 280 hours, often 12 hours a day, six days a week (2,
3). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pegatron
claims his death cannot be attributed to unhealthy working conditions within
the plant, yet China Labor Watch reports that there have been at least four
other similar deaths of young people at the Shanghai plant in recent months (1,
2). Moreover, Pegatron had declared the youth healthy in a pre-employment
physical only a month before his passing making it unlikely that a precondition
accounted for his pneumonia. Alternatively, the screening exam was faulty and a
sick person was hired. Either way, something is amiss (1, 2).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Apple
sent its own team of medical professionals to assess the situation and they agreed
<span style="background: white;">in a statement to</span> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reuters </i><span style="background: white;">that
Shi died of pneumonia and that there was nothing in the factory that could have
caused the illness (4). We concur that the contraction of pneumonia from any
one physical ‘place’ or hazardous ‘material’ in the factory is unlikely, but
find it unsettling that there’s been no mention of what the physical strain of
a 70+ hour work week for many weeks does to a young person’s immune system. We
believe this added strain, if not the cause of Shi’s illness, was likely a
contributing factor to the development and severity of his illness. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";">If this seems unlikely to you, be aware that there is an
emerging body of research demonstrating a relationship between work stress,
long work hours and impaired health and immune system deterioration (5, 6). Combine
this with over-crowded living conditions and possible exposure to someone with
pneumonia – is it really a surprise that he got sick? No it’s not, but it is surprising
that he died. How was it that Shi’s illness could have gone untreated? Are
there many unreported cases of pneumonia in this factory? What does it say
about the quality of the medical surveillance of these tens of thousands of
working people that this 15-year-old could get sick and die virtually
unnoticed? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Li
Qiang, who runs China Labor Watch <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>says, “Considering the sudden deaths of five people and the
similar reason of the deaths, we believe there should be some relations between
the tragedy and the working conditions in the factory,” (2). We concur. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/technology/worker-deaths-raise-questions-at-an-%20apple-contractor-in-china.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=1&#http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/technology/worker-deaths-raise-questions-at-an-%20apple-contractor-in-china">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/technology/worker-deaths-raise-questions-at-an-
apple-contractor-in-china.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=1& - </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. <a href="http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-469.html">http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-469.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/12/12/apples-own-medical-experts-say-death-at-pegatron-not-related-to-working-conditions">http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/12/12/apples-own-medical-experts-say-death-at-pegatron-not-related-to-working-conditions</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-12/apple-sent-medical-experts-to-pegatron-plant-after-worker-deaths.html"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">4. </span>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-12/apple-sent-medical-experts-to-pegatron-plant-after-worker-deaths.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";">5.
</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">McEWEN, B. S. (1998), Stress, Adaptation, and
Disease: Allostasis and Allostatic Load. Annals of the New York Academy of
Sciences, 840: 33–44. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb09546.x</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";">6.
The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease, Schnall et al, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hanley
& Belfus, Inc. Occup Med 15(1), 2000</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";">– <a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/theworkplaceandcvd/">http://unhealthywork.org/category/theworkplaceandcvd/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-77601260100397750642013-11-10T23:16:00.000-08:002013-11-11T15:44:41.502-08:00Apple CEO Tim Cook supports rights for U.S. workers, but what about workers in it's supply chain?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Early last week Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Corporation wrote that workplace equality is “good for business,” in a show of his and the company’s support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) - a landmark civil rights legislation that would make it illegal to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees (LGBT) in the workplace - which was approved last Thursday in a landmark decision by the Senate (1,2). </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Apple’s own corporate policy prohibits discriminatory hiring practices against its LGBT effectively giving them more protection than they currently receive under Federal law (4).</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Cook wrote Tuesday in an op-ed in the Washington Post,</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i> “At Apple, we try to make sure people understand that they don't have to check their identity at the door. We're committed to creating a safe and welcoming workplace for all employees, regardless of their race, gender, nationality or sexual orientation…</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="p1">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Those who have suffered discrimination have paid the greatest price for this lack of legal protection. But ultimately we all pay a price. If our coworkers cannot be themselves in the workplace, they certainly cannot be their best selves. When that happens, we undermine people's potential and deny ourselves and our society the full benefits of those individuals' talents.</span></i></div>
<div class="p2">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="p1">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> So long as the law remains silent on the workplace rights of gay and lesbian Americans, we as a nation are effectively consenting to discrimination against them. Congress should seize the opportunity to strike a blow against such intolerance by approving the Employment Nondiscrimination Act” (3,4,5).</span></i></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">President Obama also wrote in support of the bill, pointing out the importance of equality and non-discrimination in the workplace and emphasizing the fact that the majority of Fortune 500 companies and small businesses already have nondiscrimination policies that protect LGBT employees saying,</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>“These companies know that it's both the right thing to do and makes good economic sense. They want to attract and retain the best workers, and discrimination makes it harder to do that. …</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="p1">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> If we want to create more jobs and economic growth and keep our country competitive in the global economy, we need everyone working hard, contributing their ideas, and putting their abilities to use doing what they do best. We need to harness the creativity and talents of every American" (6).</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Though getting through Senate was a major success, ENDA still faces considerable opposition as by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and the Republican-controlled House (3).</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The passing of ENDA would be a great and long sought after win for all those who support equality in the workforce and it our personal opinion that it is great that Apple supports this legislation. But dear reader, it’s hard for us to ignore the fact that Apple remains an integral part of a network of overseas companies (e.g, Foxconn and others ) that highly exploit workers whose socioeconomic status renders them vulnerable. Exploiting this vulnerability of its overseas workforce is a major contributing factor to the success and profitability of Apple corporation. If equality for all is truly what Apple is interested in, it should include ensuring that less privileged workers in the Apple supply chain are provided with a living wage and decent working conditions. What will stockholders think of this idea? </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. <a href="http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/breaking-enda-passes-key-historic-us-senate-vote/politics/2013/11/04/78023#.UnnO2pRoSYU">http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/breaking-enda-passes-key-historic-us-senate-vote/politics/2013/11/04/78023#.UnnO2pRoSYU</a></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/us/politics/senate-moves-to-final-vote-on-workplace-gay-bias-ban.html?emc=edit_na_20131107&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/us/politics/senate-moves-to-final-vote-on-workplace-gay-bias-ban.html?emc=edit_na_20131107&_r=0</a></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3. <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/11/04/apple-ceo-tim-cook-discusses-pending-us-nondiscrimination-act-in-wsj-op-ed">http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/11/04/apple-ceo-tim-cook-discusses-pending-us-nondiscrimination-act-in-wsj-op-ed</a></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">4. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304527504579172302377638002-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwMjEwNDIyWj">http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304527504579172302377638002-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwMjEwNDIyWj</a></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5. <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/04/tim_cook_launches_workplace_equality_drive/">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/04/tim_cook_launches_workplace_equality_drive/</a></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">6. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barack-obama/enda-congress_b_4209115.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barack-obama/enda-congress_b_4209115.html</a></span>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-4805249467960660292013-09-08T12:16:00.001-07:002013-09-08T12:16:39.009-07:00Apple Supplier Pegatron Investigated for Abusive Labor Practices<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Though Apple’s Supplier Responsibility Code of Conduct is
one of the best in the technology industry, it still is having problems in arranging
production of Apple products by companies <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that do not benefit
from the exploitation of workers by the violation of Chinese labor laws. This
is evident in Apple’s recent decision to contract Pegatron, a rapidly growing
Chinese company to produce iPhones, Apple computers and iPad parts. In response
to these new production demands from Apple, Pegatron has grown from a workforce
of approximately 50,000 in March to 70,000 workers today. (2,3). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The rapid growth at Pegatron has drawn the attention of
China Labor Watch (CLW), a labor watchdog group whose dedication to Chinese
worker’s rights and scrutiny of Chinese production methods has led to the
identification of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>many corporate
violations of labor rights. Most recently, from March to July of 2013, CLW investigators went undercover inside
Pegatron, and conducted approximately 200 interviews with workers outside of three
Pegatron plants (1). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">CLW reports finding
86 labor rights violations, including 36 legal violations and 50 ethical
violations at these three Pegatron factories. Many of these violations are
inconsistent with Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct (7). These violations were occurring
at the same time Apple claimed it’s suppliers have achieved 99 percent
compliance with it’s 60-hour workweek rule (the legal workweek limit in China
is 49 hours). However, CLW reports the average workweeks at the three factories
investigated are approximately, 66, 67 and 69 hours (1,3). Their finding flatly
contradicts Apple’s June 2013 Supplier Responsibility paper that indicates a
46-hour workweek average for Pegatron employees (2,3,4). CLW also found that Pegatron’s
Shanghai workers were forced to sign forms falsifying the number of overtime
hours worked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Other violations
noted by CLW in their report include several forms of dispatch labor abuse (see
earlier blog <a href="http://unhealthyworkblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-role-of-dispatched-labor-in.html">here</a> on dispatch labor). Recent examples at Pegatron include withholding
worker IDs so that Pegatron employees are unable to work elsewhere because they
lack proper identification and recruiting companies withholding pay or fining
workers for not working enough as well as not providing recruits with mandatory
health insurance. Also noted by CLW is hiring discrimination, women’s rights
violations, underage labor, contract violations, insufficient worker training,
insufficient wages, poor working conditions (e.g., employees being made to
stand for 10-11 hours at a time, employees provided gloves that do not
sufficiently protect them from the materials used to create metal backplates
for the iPad), poor living conditions (e.g., 30-minute waits to enter their
production facility, tight living quarters, packed cafeterias and cold showers),
difficulty in taking leave, labor health and safety concerns, ineffective
grievance channels, abuse by management, and environmental pollution (CLW found
metal-cutting fluids were dumped directly into the local sewer systems) (1).<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This May, 2013 Apple
championed its “success” in achieving positive reforms at Foxconn (another
important manufacturing subsidiary) including higher wages and shorter
work-weeks (1,3,4). While there can be no doubt that there have been some
important positive changes at Foxconn the CLW reports regarding Foxconn (6)
have brought the claim of “success” by Apple under renewed scrutiny. Whatever
positive changes there have been at Foxconn are clearly lacking at the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>three Pegatron factories CLW now reports
on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">CLW executive
director Li Qiang reports that their, “investigations have shown that labor
conditions at Pegatron factories are even worse than those at Foxconn factories”
(1). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apple responded to CLW’s newest
report with a statement, saying it is “committed to providing safe and fair
working conditions throughout our supply chain” and that it had conducted 15
comprehensive audits at Pegatron facilities since 2007, including surprise
audits within the past 18 months. It also confirmed that some labor brokers
were withholding worker ID cards and demanded Pegatron “put a stop” to it
(2,3,4). In fact, labor conditions at the Pegatron AVY factory are so poor that
within a period of two weeks more than 25% (30 out of 110) new recruits quit
(3). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Apple also
indicated it would investigate the claims outlined in the China Labor Watch
report, and take corrective action where needed. We applaud this stand but
wonder if these steps will be sufficient as we have already seen that Apple
audits are unable to adequately identify the realities of its supplier
factories. In allowing its suppliers to continue abusive labor practices, Apple
is facilitating unhealthy working conditions. Apple is clearly not living up to
its own standards. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. <a href="http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-459.html">http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-459.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2.<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324170004578633951552047928.html?mod=wsj_share_tweet">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324170004578633951552047928.html?mod=wsj_share_tweet</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/29/us-apple-pegatron-labour-idUSBRE96S07T20130729">http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/29/us-apple-pegatron-labour-idUSBRE96S07T20130729</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">4. <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2013/07/28/working-conditions-at-apple-manufacturing-partner-pegatron-come-under-fire/">http://9to5mac.com/2013/07/28/working-conditions-at-apple-manufacturing-partner-pegatron-come-under-fire/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5. <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2013/08/05/report-apple-could-tap-pegatron-for-future-imac-production/">http://9to5mac.com/2013/08/05/report-apple-could-tap-pegatron-for-future-imac-production/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">6. <a href="http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/pro/proshow-176.html">http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/pro/proshow-176.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">7. <a href="http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/accountability.html">http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/accountability.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">YOUTUBE VIDEO ABOUT PEGATRON MADE BY CHINA LABOR WATCH:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0CYLxxovhQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UUCvEZSH56WIEvp4RzdhV49A"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0CYLxxovhQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UUCvEZSH56WIEvp4RzdhV49A</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-18953548677974780322013-06-09T19:56:00.000-07:002013-06-09T20:14:51.278-07:00Center for Social Epidemiology 25th Anniversary Party<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Center for Social Epidemiology celebrated its 25th Anniversary this past May 17th at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Over 90 of the Center's family, friends and colleagues were in attendance. Susan Holcomb and Sherry Schnall were honored individually for their unique contributions to the CSE over the years. Dr. Paul Landsbergis was honored for his many contributions to the field of work and health.
<br />
<br />
Music by Joseph Zimmerman and friends kicked off the evening followed by uproariously funny comedy provided by Alan Havey. These were followed by nostalgic and informative presentations about the history and future directions of the CSE given by Peter Schnall, Marnie Dobson and Paul Landsbergis. The evening came to a close with additional music from Joe, (tango) dancing and further merriment.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://unhealthywork.org/wp-content/uploads/25th_Anniversary_Speeches.pdf" target="_blank">Here are links to Peter and Marnie's talks</a> from the evening as well as a <a href="http://unhealthywork.org/past-events/center-for-social-epidemiology-celebrated-its-25th-anniversary/" target="_blank">link to our website where you can also find pictures of the event</a>. To those of you who attended, we extend our heartfelt thanks for your ongoing support. For those of you who were not able to make it, we hope the attached will give you a greater sense of the evening. You were missed!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiogH2VmhZvV5zMW5sCG_OTeyn4_TADQqFfJth18XPY7kC27kJxJwKo05OZ85jlGHXxUmKoYeolzMrgRCcpLMDu7iqzaM_gavrOtZCyKyi52ZfKCXTZcdhhvIdjguWQJZthU0Lkt_Hdrvxn/s1600/_DSC5583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiogH2VmhZvV5zMW5sCG_OTeyn4_TADQqFfJth18XPY7kC27kJxJwKo05OZ85jlGHXxUmKoYeolzMrgRCcpLMDu7iqzaM_gavrOtZCyKyi52ZfKCXTZcdhhvIdjguWQJZthU0Lkt_Hdrvxn/s320/_DSC5583.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKW5DlcszsPSRpggbFPFTh90dXLbE9BMh0VlkdHn_08rHipU1D9PMAu2M6muDcXluSi7vvNs5w1G2WKBmtuCwxTM4wrWvFysWmKhtOaIQNXmX4B9Ke_z0mWxlgxHqOqJ9rkNDxI3DimHg/s1600/_DSC5434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKW5DlcszsPSRpggbFPFTh90dXLbE9BMh0VlkdHn_08rHipU1D9PMAu2M6muDcXluSi7vvNs5w1G2WKBmtuCwxTM4wrWvFysWmKhtOaIQNXmX4B9Ke_z0mWxlgxHqOqJ9rkNDxI3DimHg/s320/_DSC5434.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgap11-JjJqZPiq7J6h4hH6-CYMMpwOwYDCJvaPOPjH95LotmPPH6J0sHR4FFnycqbDI-QJxeyvZm1JNRB0qbhZusk_M2fHMCufaNZPxj1T6WuIt5DuzkbIlaCPVGJA8LBYmM5mIYhUutov/s1600/_DSC5651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgap11-JjJqZPiq7J6h4hH6-CYMMpwOwYDCJvaPOPjH95LotmPPH6J0sHR4FFnycqbDI-QJxeyvZm1JNRB0qbhZusk_M2fHMCufaNZPxj1T6WuIt5DuzkbIlaCPVGJA8LBYmM5mIYhUutov/s320/_DSC5651.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41BUYCKInkOV0Fb8vhWjxchadwNuJBwuef3-lKXTXtMez25jBuIlL1uiYcrwhuSZxApzH7RdVyrUhjB-YN7hcsgGvCB1Ul189_UsudVevdN9de4JDBvAj0dEbQDRQ-6SP12AEnFn4XCf7/s1600/MarnieSusanDeb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41BUYCKInkOV0Fb8vhWjxchadwNuJBwuef3-lKXTXtMez25jBuIlL1uiYcrwhuSZxApzH7RdVyrUhjB-YN7hcsgGvCB1Ul189_UsudVevdN9de4JDBvAj0dEbQDRQ-6SP12AEnFn4XCf7/s320/MarnieSusanDeb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinIwQjzxvR87h564Jsk6jNkWiytScwk2lERht17frYDp_0RpZxseaagpRqtdRoUs2wZ8y2774eVoMhs8El1NZe22lOmQBNNc4lEvf8zH2Lc9vP85F59-tpYlhKj9TY3UE07_i-i4tRvoa/s1600/_DSC5437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinIwQjzxvR87h564Jsk6jNkWiytScwk2lERht17frYDp_0RpZxseaagpRqtdRoUs2wZ8y2774eVoMhs8El1NZe22lOmQBNNc4lEvf8zH2Lc9vP85F59-tpYlhKj9TY3UE07_i-i4tRvoa/s320/_DSC5437.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-68043810789284737622013-05-14T11:38:00.000-07:002013-05-14T11:39:00.283-07:006th ICOH International Conference Panel on Kivimaki Article6th ICOH International Conference on Work Environment and Cardiovascular Diseases panel on the Kivimaki article, which recently appeared in Lancet in 2012, demonstrating a statistically significant relationship between Job Strain and Cardiovascular Disease in a meta analysis of 116,000 European working people.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6OJOuJIyVNw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>PLSchnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14769024988823648519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-45261423177942013962013-05-07T16:11:00.005-07:002013-05-07T16:12:54.341-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5b5b58; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Please join us in celebrating the</em><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Center for Social Epidemiology’s 25th Anniversary</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><em><br /></em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><em>May 17, 2013</em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The Westin Bonaventure Hotel</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
404 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90071</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Please join us in the <em>Hollywood Ballroom</em> at 6:30 p.m.<br />
for hors d’oeuvres, wine, entertainment, awards, thoughts<br />
and more.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-44426917684617252712013-03-02T12:17:00.000-08:002013-03-04T12:18:34.079-08:00Foxconn to Hold “Union Elections” – Don’t believe the hype.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Foxconn recently
announced workers would be able to vote for union representatives in its factories.
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The first election, scheduled for this July, is to be held in
Foxconn’s Shenzhen complex (1,4). As reported by John Chan in a Feb 13<sup>th</sup>
2013 article, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">this is
somewhat strange news as </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Foxconn claims it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">has already been holding union elections </i>since<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>the creation of the Foxconn Federation
of Labour Unions in 2008. Chan argues this Federation of Labor was created in
order to extend the policing role of the CCP’s state-controlled unions into the
private sector (3,4).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The only substantial change to Foxconn’s 2008 policy reflected
in the new announcement seems to be the inclusion of four “junior workers” from
each of the 12 manufacturing sections in the Shenzhen complex (1,3,4). Though
additional representation may help ease worker/manager relations it does not, given
the small numbers of new representatives, do much to </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">ensure collective bargaining rights for
workers, nor does it give them any new meaningful leverage in their growing
struggle for fair compensation and equal rights. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Independent
unions are in fact still illegal in China, as are worker strikes, and t</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">he
official All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) (<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f3f3f3; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">see footnote</span>) is known to frequently and
publicly back employers and the CCP regime against the very workers they’re
meant to protect. It also boasts ultimate control over all enterprise unions
throughout the country including Foxconn’s union (3). In Foxconn, as in other
enterprises, senior company managers, often CCP branch secretaries, run the
unions rather than workers (4). </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
fact explains why many observers believe any new union representation in
Foxconn plants is either A. largely symbolic and/or B. intended as more of a
pressure-release valve for growing tensions between labor and management.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not only does
Foxconn’s recent move not impart any real increase in power or ability to
organize for workers outside of its current system, but so far there have also
been no additional protections being offered elected representatives (2). China
has many laws that provide legal protection for workers, but most of them are
selectively enforced, leaving worker representatives vulnerable to retaliation
by management and party leaders. Cases have been reported where organizers were
not only fired from their company positions but also detained by local police
for weeks on end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Foxconn’s latest efforts are seen by many observers as an
attempt to stem worker unrest and avoid further negative news coverage. It may
also be an attempt to preserve the CCP party’s power by averting protests,
strikes or otherwise politically motivated upheavals by workers in China
(1,3,4). It goes without saying that there is a lot of labor unrest and
political demonstrations at this time in China (4). </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. </span><a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/14604-can-we-trust-foxconns-new-democratic-chinese-factories"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://truth-out.org/news/item/14604-can-we-trust-foxconns-new-democratic-chinese-factories</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. </span><a href="http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/110178%20http://www.clb.org.hk/en/view-resource-centre-content/100618"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/110178%20http://www.clb.org.hk/en/view-resource-centre-content/100618</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. </span><a href="http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/05/foxconn-unions-holding-elections-for-some-leadership-roles/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/05/foxconn-unions-holding-elections-for-some-leadership-roles/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. </span><a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/02/13/foxc-f13.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/02/13/foxc-f13.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. </span><a href="http://www.economist.com/node/11848496"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.economist.com/node/11848496</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-China_Federation_of_Trade_Unions"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-China_Federation_of_Trade_Unions</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 11.6pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 11.6pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Footnote:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 11.6pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) </span>was
originally founded in 1925, after which it was repealed twice (once by the Chinese
Nationalist government and once by Mao Zedong and the Cultural Movement) before
being reinstituted once again in 1976. Under the new law independent unions
were made illegal, effectively giving the ACFTU a government-controlled/sanctioned
monopoly on unions in China – one that doesn’t allow freedom of association,
collective bargaining or strikes to occur (4,6). In 2008 Chinese policy changed
requiring Chinese, but also foreign owned companies to create their own SCFTU chapters.
Though there was some resistance, most notably by Wal-Mart, most companies have
chosen to join. This makes sense given the ACFTU provides no real security to
workers and cooperation is incentivized with government tax cuts. The addition
of these companies has driven membership rates higher and further solidified
the SCFTU’s role as a “yellow” union by consistently acting to defend economic
growth and the protection of its own political organ over workers rights.
Companies that continue to resist are blacklisted and subjected to audits, tax
examinations and accusations of labor violations (4,5,6).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-55553648963222620172013-01-27T21:20:00.001-08:002013-01-27T21:20:58.819-08:00Putting Democracy to Work<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">While we plan to return in
later blogs to the Mondragon Cooperative, we'd like to begin to address
American worker cooperatives! We will examine what potential they might have to
help eleviate rapidly deteriorating working conditions of the American working
class, what obstacles they face and which American cooperatives are surviving
in the current economic climate and why. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Below is a video clip of
Shift Change - a new documentary on worker cooperatives at home and abroad. It
includes footage taken of Mondragon workers as well as several U.S.
cooperatives we might choose to cover in blogs to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NK9SjSpRCcQ" width="560"></iframe>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-81328153121644076472013-01-22T20:19:00.000-08:002013-01-24T14:42:07.062-08:00The Mondragon Corporation: Criticisms - Part 3 of 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</div>
By Peter Schnall and Erin Wigger<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In our first two blogs we have presented
Mondragon’s business structure and corporate values with an emphasis on those aspects
we find particularly important in vouchsafing the health and safety of its
workers. Here, we’d like to address a few problems with the Mondragon
experience as a “worker cooperative” corporation as it has undergone expansion
and evolution over the past 30 years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Expansion of the company:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "Times New Roman";">By the
mid-1980s it had become apparent to Mondragon’s that many of its products were
in direct</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"> </span>competition with other multinational
companies. Since retooling their company to make other products would be
difficult and costly, it was decided that <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">the company would instead adapt to current global
practices rather than dramatically change</span> their own products (2,5). This
meant, for example, that Mondragon would embrace expansion abroad,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Erosion
of “worker collective” values:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mondragon
opened new plants in Mexico, Morocco, Egypt, Argentina, Thailand and China</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> to name a few and, while Modragon insists it tries
to ensure good working conditions in its international plants, <u>its
international workforce have not been offered member-ownership.</u> Even within
Spain, Mondragon-owned popular Spanish food chain Eroski, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">did not</span> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">offer its 40,000 employees a
chance to become worker-owners until 2009</span></span> (7, 5, 9, 2). This resulted in
a loosening of Mondragon’s grip on its own stated values as a worker-owned
cooperative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today, roughly one-third of Mondragón workers are
nonmembers out of 256 companies. This exceeds the original Mondragón commitment
to never employ <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">more than
10% nonmembers.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Temporary”
labor and gender inequality:</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gender equality in their hiring practices is also
an issue. As with other globally competitive capitalist corporations we’ve seen
(e.g.. Foxconn) when Mondragon experiences an increase in demand from the
marketplace they draw from a pool of temporary workers to fill the labor gap.
Temporary hires at Mondragon are overwhelmingly female, thus many lower
positions within the company are being occupied by females while blue-collar jobs
at Mondragon’s coops remain largely male (10). Temporary female workers often
receive less pay and, by definition, have less job security. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This social stratification of workers by
gender is the anti-thesis of workplace democracy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alienation:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the mid-1960s alternative approaches (in the
form of Scandinavian work groups) were introduced to Ulgor workers in an effort
to replace the rote and alienating line work Taylorism had brought. The
recession of the 1980s, however, created a shift away from alternative
manufacturing processes as the coops began to be more concerned with their
bottom line (11). By the early 1990s several lean production practices had been
accepted, including <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">just-in-time
inventory along with other manufacturing practices to increase productivity
such as shift work (10). </span>It’s hard to imagine in a company where workers
have a share in power the actual organization of work within its factories has
been left basically untouched. These practices <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">bring into question the ability of Mondragon to support
workplace democracy and whether all member-owners are truly active in
decision-making within the company. (9,5,10).</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Conclusion:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Mondragon
is doing, many things right as we discussed in our previous two blogs re the
company. <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">However, given
their commitment to the goals of worker participation and improved worker
health</span></span>, one would think they would extend offers of membership to their foreign
employees, take a stand on gender inequality (possibly through outreach through
their educational branch) and do more to encourage democracy and participation
on the work floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. <a href="http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/language/en-US/ENG/Who-we-are/Introduction.aspx">http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/language/en-US/ENG/Who-we-are/Introduction.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. <a href="http://www.ownershipassociates.com/mcc-intro.shtm">http://www.ownershipassociates.com/mcc-intro.shtm</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. <a href="http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/ENG/Co-operativism/Co-operative-Experience/Historic-Background.aspx">http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/ENG/Co-operativism/Co-operative-Experience/Historic-Background.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. <a href="http://participedia.net/en/cases/mondrag-n-co-operative-corporation">http://participedia.net/en/cases/mondrag-n-co-operative-corporation</a><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">6. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://distributistreview.com/mag/2010/06/mondragon-and-the-global-economic-meltdown/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">http://distributistreview.com/mag/2010/06/mondragon-and-the-global-economic-meltdown/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">7.
<a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/1997/1197huet.html">http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/1997/1197huet.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">9. <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-new-economy/mondragon-worker-cooperatives-decide-how-to-ride-out-a-downturn">http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-new-economy/mondragon-worker-cooperatives-decide-how-to-ride-out-a-downturn</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">10. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/2011/11/15/cooperativization-on/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/2011/11/15/cooperativization-on/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">11. <a href="http://www.community-wealth.org/_pdfs/articles-publications/outside-us/paper-clamp.pdf">http://www.community-wealth.org/_pdfs/articles-publications/outside-us/paper-clamp.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-18382572035806518852013-01-14T18:08:00.000-08:002013-01-14T18:11:20.216-08:00Changes at Foxconn may not be sufficient<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
By Peter Schnall and Erin Wigger<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As reported recently in the New York Times,
signs of change can be seen in Foxconn’s factories. Protective foam has been
placed on low stairwell ceilings inside factories and automatic shut-off devices
have been added to many machines. Some workers have also received more
comfortable chairs (1,2). Hourly wages are reportedly also up and hours of work
per week are down. All this is supposedly good news for workers at Foxconn.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3b3b3c; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">In fact, according to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Times</i>, Foxconn has already carried out
more than 280 of 360 changes recommended by the Fair Labor Association (FLA ref
2).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">You might remember from our previous blogs,
Foxconn and Apple both made numerous commitments to change working conditions
at the plants after meeting with the Fair Labor Association (FLA), whose </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">report<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(</span><a href="http://www.fairlabor.org/report/foxconn-investigation-report"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">released in March of 2012</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">) identified numerous major problems at
Foxconn including very long work hours (up to 80 hours per week), excessive and
often unpaid overtime, safety violations as well as inhumane housing
conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Foxconn announced that by July 2013, no employee
would be allowed to work more than an average of 49 hours a week (the limit set
by Chinese law) and promised to increase wages so employees’ total pay would not
decline when overtime hours are cut. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wages <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">were </i></b>raised for some workers in Shenzhen by 16 to 25
percent (6,7). However, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">despite
the higher hourly<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>wages,
Foxconn’s partial compliance with Chinese weekly work limits has resulted in an
average overall <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">decrease</b> in
salaries for many workers leading to complaints by many who need the extra
hours and the income to provide for their families. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">As we were completing this article China Labor Watch reported that workers
at Foxconn Group’s Xin Hai Yang Precision Factory had gone on strike January 11<sup>th</sup>
to protest low wages. (see ref 11)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: #3b3b3c; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The
story from the NY Times also reports that other reforms are<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>being implemented by Foxconn in areas
like health and safety, environmental protection, compensation, grievance
systems, workplace conduct and discipline, and termination and retrenchment policy
though it’s unclear in the article exactly what changes are being made (2).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Even with these reforms, chronic problems remain
at the plant. </span><em><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Envoyé
Spécial</span></em><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">,
a<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span><em><span style="color: #333333;">60 Minutes</span></em>-like program from a public TV
station in France, went undercover at the Zhengzhou iPhone 5 Foxconn factory and
reported several days ago that it had found workers living in dormitories still
under construction without </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">electricity
or running water. Reporters also met with lower-paid student workers who
claimed they were required to continue working at the factory in fear of losing
their diplomas as well as workers who claimed that much of their upgraded $290
monthly salary was still being absorbed by the company through housing,
insurance and food (3,5).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Just this past September, (six months after
Foxconn agreed to a Fair Labor Association request for new internship rules),
two worker advocacy groups found that students in nonmanufacturing courses were
being improperly forced to work at a Foxconn plant in north central China (4). One
student studying preschool education said she was prohibited from quitting her
internship and was compelled to work night shifts. Afterward, Mr. Gou of
Foxconn issued apologies to wronged interns and the responsible official was
fired (1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: #3b3b3c; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Earlier
in the year </span><a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2405122,00.asp"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #007ba1; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">reports</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #3b3b3c; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> surfaced </span></span><span style="color: #3b3b3c; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">from
Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) finding that the
year's multiple Apple product launches put added pressure on the factories, allegedly
pushing workers into overtime and forcing them to endure
"humiliating" disciplinary action, including the writing and reading
of confession letters, and manual labor duties like toilet cleaning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: #3b3b3c; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">This
climaxed in early October when a riot broke out at the Chengdu, China plant
involving thousands of workers after a clash with security staff. Dozens of
Foxconn employees were arrested. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Only
12 days later, 3,000 to 4,000 workers at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant walked
off the job when fights broke out between quality control inspectors and line
workers on the iPhone 5 (8,9).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Though Foxconn has reportedly been training
managers to treat employees less brusquely, foremen still use profanity and
intimidation, workers say. “The managers speak in a manner that often feels
like a threat,” said Mou Kezhang, who works in iPad quality assurance at the
Foxconn factory in Chengdu (1). </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Clearly,
the pressure on Foxconn for increased production of various Apple components
has led to oppressive management practices and shortcuts to increase
production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The important issue of poor <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">psychosocial work environment</i> at the
plants and the role work stressors play in the negative health outcomes of
workers continues to be ignored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Work stressors include; work intensity and speed-up, </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/long-work-hours/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">long work hours</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> (this appears to have been partially
addressed), </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/organizationalinjustice/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">organizational justice</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">, effort-reward imbalance, </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/low-social-support/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">low social support</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">, job strain and </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/threat-avoidant-vigilance/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">threat-avoidant vigilance</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">, to name a few. Recent research
publications from China indicate that </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/job-strain/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">job strain</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">
and </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/effort-reward-imbalance/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">effort-reward imbalance</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> may play important roles in the
development of musculoskeletal disorders and also physical injuries among chinese
workers (10,11). The FLA as well as watchdog groups such as China Labor Watch
have ignored these psychosocial factors or aren’t aware of their importance.
Nor has anyone examined the impact of these psychosocial stressors on the
negative psychological health outcomes plaguing this population of workers -
observable by the significant number of suicides the plant has experienced over
the last few years. These issues need to addressed along with work hours and
wages for work life at Foxconn to significantly improve. Without these changes we
can expect continued and andd increasing negative health outcomes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">1) </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/business/signs-of-changes-taking-hold-in-electronics-factories-in-china.html?pagewanted=all&_r=4&"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/business/signs-of-changes-taking-hold-in-electronics-factories-in-china.html?pagewanted=all&_r=4&</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #3b3b3c; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">2) </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/27/business/Improving-Working-Conditions-at-Foxconn.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/27/business/Improving-Working-Conditions-at-Foxconn.html</span></a><span style="color: #3b3b3c; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">3) </span><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/14/french-reporters-infiltrate-zhengzhou-foxconn-iphone-5-factory/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/14/french-reporters-infiltrate-zhengzhou-foxconn-iphone-5-factory/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">4) </span><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57559327-37/lingering-issues-found-at-foxconns-iphone-factory/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57559327-37/lingering-issues-found-at-foxconns-iphone-factory/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023286/foxconn-samsung-face-labor-issues-at-chinese-factories.html"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">5) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023286/foxconn-samsung-face-labor-issues-at-chinese-factories.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">6) </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/20/foxconn-apple-china-wages/print"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/20/foxconn-apple-china-wages/print</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">7) </span><a href="http://9to5mac.com/2012/05/31/foxconn-workers-activists-claim-no-change-at-apple-plants-following-fla-audits/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://9to5mac.com/2012/05/31/foxconn-workers-activists-claim-no-change-at-apple-plants-following-fla-audits/</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">8) </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/business/global/foxconn-riot-underscores-labor-rift-in-china.html?_r=0"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/business/global/foxconn-riot-underscores-labor-rift-in-china.html?_r=0</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">9) </span><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/06/us-apple-foxconn-idUSBRE8941JF20121006"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/06/us-apple-foxconn-idUSBRE8941JF20121006</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">10)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23268836"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23268836</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">11) <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457512004216"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457512004216</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">12) <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/laptops/news/foxconn-faces-another-strike-in-china-report-316980"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://gadgets.ndtv.com/laptops/news/foxconn-faces-another-strike-in-china-report-316980</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-8437811299556827402013-01-05T11:50:00.001-08:002013-01-06T16:16:42.245-08:00Work stress linked to heart attack risk in older men<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Colleagues, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here (inserted below) is a short article from Personnel Today (January 2013) which discusses the impact of job strain on the cardiovascular health of older male workers. </span><br />
<div cla="cla" href="http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/03/01/2013/59084/work-stress-linked-to-heart-attack-risk-in-older-men.htm">
<a href="http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/03/01/2013/59084/work-stress-linked-to-heart-attack-risk-in-older-men.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.personneltoday.com/articles/03/01/2013/59084/work-stress-linked-to-heart-attack-risk-in-older-men.htm</span></a></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Work stress linked to heart attack risk in older men</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Older men with stressful jobs and little power to make decisions are more likely to suffer with heart disease than their peers with less job strain, according to a <a href="https://www.som.org.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/Office/media/Occup_Med_Lond-2012-McCarthy-613-9.pdf"><span class="s2">study published in Occupational Medicine</span></a>, the journal of the Society of Occupational Medicine.</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The researchers from University College Cork found that older male workers who had had a heart attack or had unstable angina were four times as likely to have high job strain as those that did not.</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Job strain, or the combination of high job demands and low control at work, has long been associated with coronary heart disease, but this latest research looked specifically at its effects in the older workforce.</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Intriguingly, it found there was a clear difference between younger and older workers - the association was not found in younger people.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lead author Vera McCarthy said: "This study is important as it provides information on older workers necessary to inform policy-makers, clinicians, OH physicians and employers."</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The society argued that as the UK's working population ages, employers will need to make work more attractive and feasible for older workers, implementing changes that enable them to work up to and beyond state pension age.</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To this end, investing in OH services will become increasingly important in keeping people economically active and helping to ensure that older workers remain healthy and fit, it added.</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Employers need to ensure that they are looking after the health of their older employees, making the necessary adjustments and being flexible about the jobs they do and their working practices," said society president Dr Richard Heron.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-90210152979635153832012-12-17T13:54:00.000-08:002012-12-17T13:54:00.836-08:00The Mondragon Corporation: Structure/Model - Part 2 of 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="" name="Purpose_and_Problem"></a><a href="" name="Secondary_Sources"></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to Mondragon, its business
philosophy is contained in its corporate values statement: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Co-operation, Participation, Social Responsibility </i>and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Innovation</i>. </span>“The
Corporation’s Mission combines the core goals of a business organization
competing on international markets with the use of democratic methods in its
business organization, the creation of jobs, the human and professional
development of its workers and a pledge to development with its social
environment” (1,5).</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">Mondragon
seeks to maintain worker participation in decision-making through worker-shared
ownership and its “one worker one vote” system. After a probation period,
workers are given the option to become members, meaning they can vote in the
annual General Assembly (1,2). The membership fee is €13,400 (equal to approximately
one year’s pay/profit which is the company’s income after non-labor costs) and
can be borrowed from Mondragon’s co-operative bank where monthly and year-end
losses are credited or debited (5). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">Each
worker’s vote in the general assembly carries the same weight regardless of
placement or title within the coop. This is the key to democracy within the
company. The general assembly controls production, income spread and elects
members of the board. The elected board of directors then appoints management
as well as a watchdog council to monitor management (8). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">Another
way in which Mondragon promotes egalitarianism is through it’s fixed ratio
between upper management and workers wages which cannot exceed 70 percent of
the equivalent in other companies in the market and is generally 3:1 to 5:1
before taxes (2). “For instance, the CEO of the entire Mondragon Corporation
earns only 9 times as much as the lowest paid worker in the entire complex”
(5). As a consequence of Mondragon’s policies, the <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">lowest</span> pay is generally higher than the
local equivalent for similar work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">This
social structure has led to a healthy and robust company, even in the face of
economic downturns. Spain has gone through several troublesome periods over the
last 20 years. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">In the 1980-83 recession the Basque
country lost 20% of its jobs. Many companies in the area were forced to lay-off
heavily or close. Yet there were very few layoffs at Mondragon during this
time, helping to stabilize the region’s economy (8). In order to avoid lay-offs</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">, workers voted
to take an 11% pay decrease, paid time off or be reassigned to other working
factories. I</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">n 2008 worker-owners
at the struggling Fagor appliance co-operative elected to give up their
Christmas bonuses and cut their overall pay by 8% in order to spare layoffs and
secure the competitiveness of their company (6). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">What seems the
most profound about Mondragon’s policies is its focus on the sustainable
relationship of mutual benefit between worker and company. In contrast to most
capitalist companies, whereby the measure of a successful company is almost always
based on maximum profitability, the cooperative model offers an alternative approach
that supports democracy in the workplace through an egalitarian voting system, while
at the same time promoting job security for worker-members, social justice and
community responsibility (10% of Mondragon profits go back into the community)
(4,7).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. <a href="http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/language/en-US/ENG/Who-we-are/Introduction.aspx">http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/language/en-US/ENG/Who-we-are/Introduction.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. <a href="http://www.ownershipassociates.com/mcc-intro.shtm">http://www.ownershipassociates.com/mcc-intro.shtm</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. <a href="http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/ENG/Co-operativism/Co-operative-Experience/Historic-Background.aspx">http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/ENG/Co-operativism/Co-operative-Experience/Historic-Background.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">5. <a href="http://participedia.net/en/cases/mondrag-n-co-operative-corporation">http://participedia.net/en/cases/mondrag-n-co-operative-corporation</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">6. <a href="http://distributistreview.com/mag/2010/06/mondragon-and-the-global-economic-meltdown/">http://distributistreview.com/mag/2010/06/mondragon-and-the-global-economic-meltdown/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">7. <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net/Mondragon">http://p2pfoundation.net/Mondragon</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">8. <a href="http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/2011/11/15/cooperativization-on/">http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/2011/11/15/cooperativization-on/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-73901721847719911582012-12-05T18:22:00.000-08:002012-12-05T18:39:57.465-08:00The Mondragon Corporation: An alternative to traditional corporate structure? Part 1 of 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<title></title>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Peter Schnall and Erin Wigger</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">So much is wrong
with the way work is presently organized in America, you could look in almost
any direction and find something terribly amiss. Part of this is surely due to
the steady pressure of globalization on the world’s companies to compete as
they strain against a slumping economy. We have a serious problem in the
world of today’s work.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can a business
survive/stay competitive in these volatile times without sacrificing their own
worker’s health and financial security? Are there any viable alternatives to
the current business model? We believe there are. These come in the form of
companies and organizations which have gotten something right in terms of
working out the balance between their bottom line and the health, safety and
personal growth of their labor force. These companies recognize that their
assets are weighed not only in gold, but also in the health, longevity and
productivity of their workers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mondragón
Co-operative Corporation (MCC) is one of these. MCC is the world’s largest
worker cooperative. A multinational company based in the Basque region of
Spain (7th largest company in Spain), with 256 different businesses under
it’s umbrella, 80,000+ employees (each cooperative supporting anything from 6
to 2,000 workers), 43 schools, one college, and more than $4.8 billion of
business annually in manufacturing, services, retail and wholesale
distribution, Mondragon has become one of the world’s most successful story of
a worker-owned company (1,4).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">How did it
become so successful and on what principles is it built? The Basque region has
a long history of organized labor in the form of craftsman guilds, but it wasn’t
until 1941 when a priest called José María Arizmendiarriet arrived and,
seeing the need for education free and open to all began a democratically run
Polytechnic School (1,2).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 1956, the
threat of unemployment in the area from the shutdown of a local factory that
manufactured petrol-based heaters and cookers led José María Arizmendiarriet to
encourage several students (and workers) from his school to purchase and manage
it themselves. ULGOR, now called Fagor Electrodomésticos, was the result (3,4).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mondragon’s
following first cooperatives founded the Caja Laboral Popular credit
co-operative bank, helping to secure the financial success and independence of
the company. It was the Business Division of Caja Laboral that served as the
catalyst for the evolution of MCC into what it is today. In our next blog we
will describe how Mondragon’s workers relate to the company and to each other
(2,3).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span>
<br />
<div class="p6">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p7">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation"><span class="s3">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p7">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. <a href="http://www.ownershipassociates.com/mcc-intro.shtm"><span class="s3">http://www.ownershipassociates.com/mcc-intro.shtm</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p7">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3. <a href="http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/ENG/Co-operativism/Co-operative-Experience/Historic-Background.aspx"><span class="s3">http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/ENG/Co-operativism/Co-operative-Experience/Historic-Background.aspx</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p7">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">4. <a href="http://participedia.net/en/cases/mondrag-n-co-operative-corporation"><span class="s3">http://participedia.net/en/cases/mondrag-n-co-operative-corporation</span></a></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-57553334124445810872012-10-12T14:04:00.000-07:002012-10-15T12:37:50.806-07:00Strike at Foxconn Over Apple's New iPhone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">Last Friday, only 12 days
after the riot at </span></span></span><span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Arial !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">Foxconn’s
Taiyuan factory which involved thousands of workers, </span></span></span><span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">3,000 to 4,000 workers at
Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant walked off the job when fights broke out between
quality control inspectors and line workers</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> (1,2)<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">Workers at the plant were reportedly
being subjected to work intensification as the plant struggled to meet demand
for the recently released iPhone 5. Already operating under tight deadlines and
high quotas, Apple responded to iPhone consumer complaints about cosmetic
defects to the phones’ outer cover by pressuring Foxconn to increase quality
regulations at the plant</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">
(2,3)<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">This created tensions
between line workers and quality control inspectors as heightened quality
standards mean </span></span></span><span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Arial !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">fewer
products leave the production line and volume targets are harder to meet. Li
Qiang, of China Labor Watch, points out that "they have such high
expectations for these products, even if you raise the demands a little bit it
makes a huge difference to the pressure on the workers”(3,4). China Labor Watch also
found that lack of additional training, paired with already inadequate training,
exacerbated the issue. Some workers were also reportedly upset by having to
work though China’s weeklong national holiday (which began on September 30</span></span></span><span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Arial !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">th </span></span></sup></span><span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Arial !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">and ended on the 7</span></span></span><span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Arial !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">t</span></span></sup></span><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">h</span></sup><span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Arial !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;"> of October) in order to
meet production demands for the new iPhone</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> (3)<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Arial !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Arial !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">Foxconn denies forcing
people to work and points out that workers who “volunteered” to work on the
holiday received additional compensation as required by the government. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">This </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">strike <span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">comes at a difficult time
for Apple - having just released the iPhone 5 this September. Though Foxconn
maintains that the strike did not halt production on the phone, China Labor
Watch reports that several lines manufacturing the phone stopped production
while workers protested</span></span> (1,4)<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: black !msorm; font-family: Helvetica !msorm; font-size: 8.0pt !msorm; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt !msorm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1913;">So, here is a very
straightforward example of how the needs of American consumers directly affect
the quality of life of the Chinese workers assembling our products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apple Corporation and Foxconn - as well as the American consumer - may each
want to assign responsibility elsewhere, but they are all in some way profiting
off of this process.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/business/global/foxconn-riot-underscores-labor-rift-in-china.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/business/global/foxconn-riot-underscores-labor-rift-in-china.html?_r=0</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/06/us-apple-foxconn-idUSBRE8941JF20121006">http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/06/us-apple-foxconn-idUSBRE8941JF20121006</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/05/foxconn-apple-iphone-china-strike">http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/05/foxconn-apple-iphone-china-strike</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">4. <a href="http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-433.html">http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-433.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-76837681159057930052012-10-11T19:21:00.000-07:002012-10-11T19:21:07.541-07:00What it means<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The following poem appeared in the
Monthly Review Vol. 64 No. 4 from September 2012. We liked it so much we took the liberty of reproducing it here. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list-ins: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1912; mso-list: none;">
<u><br /></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list-ins: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1912; mso-list: none;">
<i>by Marge Piercy</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list-ins: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1912; mso-list: none;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list-ins: "Erin Wigger" 20121011T1912; mso-list: none;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
<title></title>
<style type="text/css">
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px 'Times New Roman'}
span.s1 {font: 16.0px 'Lucida Grande'}
</style>
</span></i></div>
<div class="p1">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Unemployed: soon invisible,<span class="s1"><br />
</span>after a while, unemployable,<span class="s1"><br />
</span>unwanted, with your future<span class="s1"><br />
</span>eroding along with confidence,<span class="s1"><br />
</span>sense of self, the family<span class="s1"><br />
</span>cracking along old fault lines.<span class="s1"><br />
</span><i>And what do </i>you <i>do</i>? Age.</span></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Out of work: out of security,<span class="s1"><br />
</span>out of value, out of the routine<span class="s1"><br />
</span>that organizes the days, out<span class="s1"><br />
</span>of health insurance, out of<span class="s1"><br />
</span>the house when the mortgage<span class="s1"><br />
</span>can’t be paid, out on the street,<span class="s1"><br />
</span>out of society, out of luck.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Your job was shipped<span class="s1"><br />
</span>overseas. Your job and two<span class="s1"><br />
</span>others are being done now<span class="s1"><br />
</span>by one frantic worker.<span class="s1"><br />
</span>A robot replaced you.<span class="s1"><br />
</span>Your company was bought<span class="s1"><br />
</span>and demolished.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Somebody elected you<span class="s1"><br />
</span>superfluous, a discard.<span class="s1"><br />
</span>Somebody made money;<span class="s1"><br />
</span>somebody bought a yacht<span class="s1"><br />
</span>with your old salary. Some-<span class="s1"><br />
</span>body has written you off,<span class="s1"><br />
</span>somebody is killing you.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
At night when you can no<span class="s1"><br />
</span>longer sleep, don’t blame your-<span class="s1"><br />
</span>self. What could you have<span class="s1"><br />
</span>done? Nothing. Choices were<span class="s1"><br />
</span>made to fatten dividends,<span class="s1"><br />
</span>bloat bonuses, pay for a new<span class="s1"><br />
</span>trophy wife and private plane.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
You did nothing wrong<span class="s1"><br />
</span>except your birth. Wrong<span class="s1"><br />
</span>parents. Wrong place. Wrong<span class="s1"><br />
</span>race. Wrong sex. If only<span class="s1"><br />
</span>you’d had the sense to be<span class="s1"><br />
</span>born to the one percent<span class="s1"><br />
</span>life would be truffles today.</div>
</span></i><br />
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-2967114962902683142012-09-30T13:51:00.003-07:002012-09-30T14:06:55.283-07:00Proposed APA NIOSH Panel May 2013 in Los Angeles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--StartFragment-->
</i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Recent events in China involving the workforce at Foxconn
facilities indicate that, despite efforts to ameliorate unhealthy working
conditions, a great deal of dissatisfaction remains (1,2).</i></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Observers of these events throughout the world are
curious and concerned about what is happening. Below you will find a
proposed symposium to be held at the APA-NIOSH Work and Health Conference in
Los Angeles May 16-19 2013 to which, we hope, representatives of the
various organizations responsible for these conditions including Apple
Corporation and Foxconn Corporation as well as the Fair Labor Association
(hired by Apple to investigate events at Foxconn's Chengdu, Guanlan, and
Longhua facilties), CLW and SACOM will appear and present their views on
the matter.</div>
<!--EndFragment--></i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Working Conditions in Multinational Corporations: The Case
of Foxconn in China</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The processes of globalization – the steadily increasing
inter-dependency of world economies, production, trade, technology and culture
– is having a enormous impact on work, work organizations and the health of
working people. The benefits to many people in terms of opportunities
for employment and consequent rising standards of living have been quite
clear for a number of decades. Recently, some negative consequences of
globalization have become visible. The need for corporate profitability
drives globalization, technology and workplace organizational changes resulting
in more competition, restructuring and downsizing, off shoring and outsourcing,
more precarious work and increased job insecurity, as well as increased
intensification and time pressure at work. It appears Western corporations
often outsource their manufacturing activities along with their occupational health
and safety concerns resulting in having workers in countries with fewer labor
production rules working in more dangerous jobs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The consequences of these processes for the mental and
physical well-being of workers have recently received considerable attention.
For example, a great deal has been written about the working conditions
for factory workers at various Foxconn manufacturing facilities in China during
the past 3 years after a series of 14 suicides occurred during 2010 at the
Shenzhen manufacturing facility in southern China - the manufacturing location
for the iPhone manufactured by Apple Corporation. The reasons for the
fatalities remain unclear today but they occurrence resulted in much media
speculation as to the quality of the working conditions at Foxconn in general.
They were described in one report as like a "labor camp".
Foxconn has initiated a number of changes at their plants including increasing
wages for employees as well as requiring workers to sign a legally binding document guaranteeing
that they (and their descendants) would not sue the company as a result of any
unexpected death, self-injury or suicide. The attention garnered by
the news of the suicide deaths appears to have prompted several customers
including Apple Corporation to initiate an investigation into conditions at
Foxconn plants in which they retained the services of the Fair Labor
Association to conduct an extensive investigation of the plant. Long reports
were issued by the FLA as well as by Chinese organizations including China
Labor Watch and SACOM (Students and Scholar against corporate
misbehavior). Despite the attention and the changes introduced by
Foxconn, conflict between workers, security and management at these plants
appears to be increasing. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The goals of this panel are to examine recent events at
Foxconn the employer of over 1 million Chinese working people (the majority
recent migrants from rural farming areas of China) as follows:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
1. To
describe conditions in Foxconn factories - including factory life, hours, pay,
living conditions </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
2. To
increase our understanding of how and why these conditions exist at Foxconn
including the connections to globalization in general</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
3. To
examine efforts to improve working conditions at Foxconn</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
4. To
understand obstacles at Foxconn to creating healthy working conditions</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
5. To
examine the connection between conditions in China and working conditions (changing)
in the U.S. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We will invite panel participants from the following
organizations so as to obtain multiple perspectives on conditions at the
Foxconn Shenzhen facility. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
1. Foxconn Corporation - Hon Hai Precision Industry
Co., Ltd. (<span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">trading as</span> Foxconn)
is a Taiwanese <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">multinational</span> electronics
manufacturing company headquartered in <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Tucheng</span>, <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">New Taipei</span>, <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Taiwan</span>. It is the world's
largest maker of <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">electronic
components</span>. It employs more than one million workers, mostly in
China. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
2. Apple - The largest publicly traded corporation in the
world. The company has over 60,400 permanent full time employees and more than
250,000 employees at other companies such as Foxconn.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
3. Fair Labor Association - FLA - The mission of the
Fair Labor Association is to combine the efforts of business, civil society
organizations, and colleges and universities to promote and protect workers’
rights and to improve working conditions globally through adherence to
international standards.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
4. China Labor Watch (CLW) was founded in 2000. China Labor
Watch is an independent not-for-profit organization. In the past ten
years, CLW has collaborated with unions, labor organizations and the media to
conduct a series of in-depth assessments of factories in China that produce
toys, bikes, shoes, furniture, clothing, and electronics for some of the
largest U.S. companies. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
5. SACOM – Students and Scholars Against Corporate
Misbehavior is a nonprofit organization founded in Hong Kong in June 2005.
SACOM originated from a students’ movement devoted to improving the labor
conditions of cleaning workers and security guards under the outsourcing
policy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
6. A voice of a Foxconn Chinese worker (if this is
possible).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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7. A representative American Academic researcher
familiar with Foxconn and conditions there. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The panel will use the following format. Each speaker will
be given 10-15 minutes to address broadly the following similar questions.</div>
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<br /></div>
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a. Why did so many workers commit suicide in 2010 and
2011?</div>
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b. What are working conditions like at the Foxconn factory
in Shenzhen, Guandong province?</div>
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week and what are they paid. </div>
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* 1. <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=riots-suicides-apple">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=riots-suicides-apple</a><br />
2. <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-human-costs-built-ipad-175037829.html">http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-human-costs-built-ipad-175037829.html</a></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-91470065089971409102012-09-07T17:34:00.000-07:002012-09-07T17:34:32.966-07:00Deteriorating Working Conditions in the United States<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">By Peter Schnall and Erin Wigger</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">During the past year we have devoted a
number of blogs to discussing working conditions, as they currently exist in
China, specifically at the Foxconn plant used to manufacture several Apple
products. We’d now like to turn our attention to the rapidly deteriorating
working conditions in the United States; first by enumerating briefly what
we’ve already learned are contributing factors to unhealthy work in the U.S. and
second by contrasting, combining, and complementing this knowledge with what is
currently going on – for better or worse – in different workplaces across
America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So, what do we know contributes to or constitutes
an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unhealthy workplace</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For a very long time (over a hundred
years now) c</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">hemical
and physical exposures (e.g. heat, cold, dangerous working conditions) have
been recognized as risk factors to the health of working people. This
recognition resulted in a societal consensus in the passage of the OSHA Act in
1970 which regulates safety standards in U.S. workplaces and also marked the
creation of our National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health which
funds research into working conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Despite
efforts to improve the work environment from legislation like OSHA, illnesses
and disability at work from many causes are on the rise. Part of this is due to
the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">processes of globalization - the steadily
increasing inter-dependency of world economics, production, trade, technology
and culture – which is having an enormous impact on work, work organization and
the health of working people (we have been discussing these issues in our
reporting on Foxconn in earlier blogs). There is now increasing competition
among nations and between corporations, as resources grow scarcer. The ongoing
need for corporate profitability drives globalization, technology and changes
in workplace organization resulting in more competition, restructuring and
downsizing, outsourcing, more precarious labor and increased job insecurity, as
well as increased time pressure and intensification of work (1).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">These changes in work organization, in turn, give
rise to psychosocial stressors such as job strain, effort-reward imbalance,
emotional labor, threat-avoidant-vigilant work, organizational injustice, as
well as increased demands in the form of long work hours, contingent work,
shift work which increase stress and can lead to chronic illnesses, including
mental and physical health problems. Psychosocial stressors play an important
role in promoting CVD risk factors, such as obesity and hypertension. Many of these
work stressors are especially prevalent among drivers (bus, taxi, and truck) as
well as health workers who are exposed to noxious combinations of long work
hours, intensification of work, inadequate training, lack of support and
emotional labor leaving them prone to anxiety, burnout, depression and
hypertension. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">psychosocial work environment</i> has only
recently begun to be acknowledged as a serious risk to worker’s health. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The psychosocial work environment refers to the
interaction between the individual worker and various aspects of the work
environment. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
primary way researchers have looked into this subject has been to examine </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">the way work is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">organized</i>
– e.g., how hard one has to work (i.e., the workload), the amount of control a
person has over how their work gets done, whether a person experiences
injustice or unfair treatment at their workplace, has employment security,
works long hours or in shifts, etc. When a worker perceives threats at work
this can create a stress response which, over time research has found, can
cause increasingly deleterious effects on one’s health. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">For instance,
Karasek’s </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/job-strain/introduction-to-job-strain/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Job Strain Model</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> posits that employees in jobs that are high in
demands and low in control (high strain) are likely to experience stress which
results in deleterious health. Research has shown that jobs characterized as “high
strain” over time put a physiological strain (e.g. increased blood pressure) on
workers that can result in a range of serious and chronic physical health
conditions such as musculoskeletal disorders, hypertension, chronic back pain,
heart disease, stroke, Type II diabetes, and even death are just a few of these
(3). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Other posited
psychosocial models present us with a related but different picture. There appear
to be a number of pathways through which the organization of work creates
stress and illness in workers. While Karasek’s model referenced above has received
the most research, a great deal of evidence also supports Johannes Siegrist’s </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/effort-reward-imbalance/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Effort-Reward Imbalance</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> model which describes the unhealthy relationship
between workers and the work environment as springing from a “mismatch between
high workload (high demand) and low control over long-term rewards” [58, p.
1128] (2). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Researchers
have also begun to look at the affects of work involving having to maintain a
high level of vigilance in order to avoid (usually life-threatening) disasters.
This is referred to as </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/threat-avoidant-vigilance/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Threat-Avoidant Vigilant</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> work and is common among drivers as well as airplane pilots and air
traffic controllers</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">. There is also
mounting evidence as to the noxious affects of </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/emotionallabor/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Emotional Labor</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> on worker health. Simply stated, emotional labor
involves work that requires a person to interact emotionally with customers/others
by having to suppress their true emotions or fake appropriate ones. </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/organizationalinjustice/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Organizational injustice</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> and </span><a href="http://unhealthywork.org/category/low-social-support/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">low social support</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> have also been shown to be of great importance to
worker health (4).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">These
psychosocial stressors listed above are by no means a comprehensive list </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">and for those readers as yet unacquainted with research on these very
important topics, we urge you to look into it further at our website: </span><a href="http://www.unhealthywork.org/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">http://www.unhealthywork.org</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> where numerous articles can be found on these topics. There is also
links to a number of related websites. Another excellent source for information
on work exposures and psychosocial stressors is our new book, available for
purchase </span><a href="http://www.baywood.com/books/previewbook.asp?id=978-0-89503-335-2"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">here at Baywood Publishing</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">, called Unhealthy Work: Causes, Consequences, Cures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">In subsequent blogs we will report on recent
research findings and news stories that highlight the increasingly unhealthy
working conditions in the U.S. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">1. Schnall PL, Dobson M, Rosskam E,
Editors Unhealthy Work: Causes, Consequences, Cures. Moutsatsos C. Chapter 2:
Economic Globalization and It’s Effects on Labor, Baywood Publishing, 2009, pgs
26-34. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">(For further discussion of
Globalization read Chapter 2)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">2. Schnall PL, Landsbergis PA, Baker D.
Job Strain and Cardiovascular Disease. Annual Review of Public Health;
15:381-411,1994. Schnall PL, Landsbergis PA, Schwartz JE, Pickering TG. Job
Strain and Hypertension.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">3. Karasek RA, Theorell T. 1990.</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> Healthy
Work</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">. New
York: Basic Books<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.65pt; margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0in; mso-para-margin-right: 0in; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">4. Schnall PL, Dobson M, Rosskam E,
Editors Unhealthy Work: Causes, Consequences, Cures. Chapter 6: The Workplace
and Cardiovascular Disease, Baywood Publishing, 2009, pgs 89-101.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6791034736397293935.post-67383660869818814162012-08-30T12:41:00.000-07:002012-08-30T12:42:55.575-07:00Are Real Changes Occurring at Foxconn??? - FLA vs. SACOM and CLW<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
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by Erin Wigger and Peter Schnall</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Students and Scholars Against Corporate
Misbehavior (SACOM), China Labor Watch (CLW) and the Fair Labor
Association (FLA) disagree on what Foxconn has accomplished over the past
several months in response to the FLA’s audit of working conditions at Foxconn
in March 29th, 2012 and its subsequent report on changes at the plant published
on August 21st.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It appears as though there were some
changes at Foxconn – the most important being a reduction in hours worked
(although not all workers were happy with the changes in work hours as it
resulted in a reduction in wages), the elimination of dispatch work, and an
increase in wages. However, as SACOM points out below, many promised changes
have not yet occurred. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For your convenience we’ve taken the
liberty of extracting excerpts from each of these reports (see below). Links
can be found to the full reports at the bottom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From the FLA:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Remediation Highlights:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Many
physical changes to improve worker health and safety have been made since the
investigation, including the enforcement of ergonomic breaks, changing the
design of workers’ equipment to guard against repetitive stress injuries,
updating of maintenance policies to ensure equipment is working properly, and
testing of emergency protective equipment like eyewashes and sprinklers.
Foxconn has also engaged consultants to provide health and safety training for
all employees."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow;">"The
most significant commitments made by Foxconn following FLA’s original
investigation were related to union elections and worker representation, and
compliance with Chinese labor law regarding hours of work.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #c0504d;">Deadlines
for remediation of these items continue through July 2013</span>; however,
Foxconn has taken initial steps toward fulfilling these commitments."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"The company has reduced hours to 60 per
week (including overtime) with the goal of reaching full compliance with the
Chinese legal limit of 40 hours per week plus an average of 9 hours of overtime
per week while protecting worker pay."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Foxconn also helped to extend
unemployment insurance coverage for migrant workers working in Shenzhen by
advocating for legislation that will allow them to access the unemployment
insurance scheme, effective January 1, 2013. </span>This change has implications not only
for those employed at Foxconn, but for all other migrant workers in Shenzhen."</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Significant improvements were found
regarding Foxconn’s internship program, which affects all Foxconn facilities.
The company now ensures that student interns do not work overtime; that their
work has a more direct connection to their field of study; and they understand
that they are free to terminate the internship if and when they wish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time of verification there were
no interns at the Guanlan and Chengdu facilities; there were, however, 46
interns at Longhua and implementation could be verified at this facility
through worker interviews."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Conclusion:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Foxconn and Apple are carrying out the
robust remediation plan developed following FLA’s investigation, published on
March 28, 2012. <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Over the
past three months, steady progress has been made at the three facilities
employing an estimated 178,000 workers, and all remediation items due within
the timeframe have been completed, with others ahead of schedule."</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c0504d; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Some of the most
challenging action items</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> – <span style="color: #c0504d;">such as
compliance with Chinese labor law regarding hours of work – are yet to come</span>,
and FLA will continue to engage with Apple and Foxconn to monitor and verify
progress.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>From SACOM:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“In its report,
the FLA trumpets the speedy progress at Foxconn in remediating
widespread labour rights violations. <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">However the FLA has overstated the improvements at Foxconn</span>.
<span style="color: #c0504d;">Firstly, most of the actions completed by Foxconn
are changes at the policy level only, but few substantial changes in labour
practices were found at this stage.</span> <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Secondly, Foxconn has deliberately delayed implementing
many of the actions called for in the remediation plan, even those that are
almost cost-free. Thirdly, workers have had no opportunity to participate in
the remedial action process. SACOM has repetitively demanded democratic trade
unions at Foxconn as an indispensable step in reforming its labour practices."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Last May, SACOM issued an investigative
report on Foxconn’s labour practices in its Shenzhen
and Zhengzhou factories, </span><a href="http://sacom.hk/archives/947"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Sweatshops are good for Apple and Foxconn</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">,
but not for workers. Apart from a halt in the abusive use of student workers,
no significant progress was observed. In April, we found that workers were
still working up to 80 hours per month in overtime. Frontline management
continued to impose humiliating disciplinary measures on workers, including
forcing workers to write confession letters, read out these confession letters
to the co-workers, clean the toilets and perform other menial labour. Workers
still had little knowledge about the kinds of chemicals they were using."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow;">"SACOM
reiterates that factory inspection alone cannot eliminate labour rights
violations. A democratic trade union trusted by workers is the most sustainable
solution towards decent working conditions.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>From CLW:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“FLA just released a status report of
the improvement at three factories of Foxconn. This report is detailed and
comprehensive, with full access and resources in the investigation. However,
China Labor Watch holds three concerns in response to the report:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. In that report, FLA successfully
shifted the responsibility for Apple by blaming Foxconn for the previous
unsatisfying working conditions in those factories. In fact, Apple has the
responsibility and resource to improve the labor conditions of workers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. The harsh working conditions are by
no means isolated to just Foxconn but exist throughout Apple's supply chain.
However, that report only focused on Foxconn factories. It is Apple's entire
supply chain system that should be responsible for the squeezing of
workers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. Although the working hours at
Foxconn have been reduced to less than 60 hours per week, the intensity of the
hourly work has been increased. According to our follow-up investigation, the
workers have to complete the workload of 66 hours before within 60 hours now
per week. As a result, the workers get lower wages but have to work much harder
and they are not satisfied with the current situation.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>References:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.fairlabor.org/report/foxconn-remediation-verification"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">http://www.fairlabor.org/report/foxconn-remediation-verification</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.fairlabor.org/report/foxconn-investigation-report"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">http://www.fairlabor.org/report/foxconn-investigation-report</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/fla-audit-shows-few-improvements-for-foxconn-workers/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/fla-audit-shows-few-improvements-for-foxconn-workers/</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2012/08/25/apple-top-supplier-raises-salary-cuts-probation-for-workers/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2012/08/25/apple-top-supplier-raises-salary-cuts-probation-for-workers/</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://9to5mac.com/2012/08/21/fla-apple-and-foxconn-have-made-progress-in-improving-facilities-195-infractions-have-been-corrected-already/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">http://9to5mac.com/2012/08/21/fla-apple-and-foxconn-have-made-progress-in-improving-facilities-195-infractions-have-been-corrected-already/</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://chinalaborwatch.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/response-to-flas-progress-report-on-apple/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">http://chinalaborwatch.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/response-to-flas-progress-report-on-apple/</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://sacom.hk/archives/956"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">http://sacom.hk/archives/956</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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