iPhone 5 Strike

Foxconn workers strike over iPhone 5 demands, labor group says

http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/05/technology/mobile/foxconn-iphone-5-strike/index.html

By Julianne Pepitone @CNNMoney October 7, 2012: 10:08 AM ET

Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory in March, months before Friday’s report of a massive strike at the plant’s iPhone 5 production lines.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Thousands of factory workers at Foxconn went on strike Friday to protest their working conditions on the iPhone 5’s production lines, according to a report from an independent workers’ rights organization.

Workers at Foxconn’s plant in Zhengzhou, China, were furious after management enacted “overly strict demands” for production of Apple’s(AAPL, Fortune 500) new iPhone 5, according to a report late Friday from China Labor Watch (CLW), a New York-based advocacy group that works closely with sources in China.

The work stoppage lasted several hours on Friday and “paralyzed the production lines,” the group said.

The majority of its participants were from the quality control line for the iPhone 5. Workers and inspectors clashed in fights that sometimes turned physical, CLW said, with some hospitalized as a result.

China’s state-run news agency Xinhua also reported on the disturbance. More than 100 quality inspectors refused to go to work Friday “after one of the inspectors was allegedly assaulted by the workers, who have been dissatisfied with the new inspection standards,” Xinhua said, citing an unnamed regional government spokesman in Zhengzhou.

The work stoppage lasted roughly one hour, according to Xinhua’s source, who said that the plant has now resumed production. Workers on the scene reported a much longer outage to CLW, saying the shutdown extended from mid-day Friday into the next day.

Foxconn released an official statement on Saturday denying both reports, but acknowledging “disputes” earlier in the week.

“Any reports that there has been an employee strike are inaccurate,” Foxconn said. “There has been no workplace stoppage in that facility or any other Foxconn facility and production has continued on schedule.”

The Zhengzhou plant had clashes on Oct.1 and 2 between “a small group of production line workers” and quality control personnel, according to Foxconn.

“These were isolated incidents and were immediately addressed and measures taken, including providing additional staff for the lines in question,” Foxconn said. “This is consistent with our efforts to work with our employees to continuously enhance any aspects of our production that can improve the workplace and manufacturing practices.”

Foxconn’s Zhenghou complex employs around 190,000 people, according to CNET, which recently visited the area. Apple CEO Tim Cook made an appearance at the plant in March.

Both Xinhua and CLW cited tension over iPhone 5 quality standards as the event’s catalyst.

Workers were given new, impossibly strict standards, demanding precision down to increments as small as two-hundredths of a millimeter, according to CLW.

“Employees could not even turn out iPhones that met the standard,” CLW’s report said, because of “design defects” in the iPhone 5.

Apple ordered stricter inspections in the wake of customer complaints over “aesthetic flaws” in the iPhone 5, the Zhengzhou government spokesman told Xinhua.

Apple did not respond to messages from CNNMoney seeking comment.

Bessie Chang, a CLW program assistant, said it was the organization’s Chinese-based staff that first heard rumors of the strike. CLW director Li Qiang spoke to his sources at Foxconn to verify the report.

Tensions at the Zhenghou plant were already running high because workers were not allowed to take vacation time during China’s recent Golden Week holiday, according to CLW. That holiday typically involves three days of paid time off.

Employees who worked through the holiday did so voluntarily, Foxconn said, and were paid overtime of three times their normal hourly rate, in accordance with Chinese labor laws.

Foxconn has been in the spotlight amid growing public concern about labor conditions in the overseas factories that many U.S. gadget makers rely on to produce their devices. Apple is just one of many companies that outsources its manufacturing, but as the industry’s most popular and profitable company, it’s under the most intense scrutiny.

A spate of suicides at Foxconn factories in 2010 garnered media coverage of allegedly harsh working conditions, including unsafe facilities and illegal amounts of overtime.

In January 2012, Apple joined the independent labor-rights organization Fair Labor Association (FLA), which promptly began inspections of the working conditions at Foxconn’s many factories.

FLA released an assessment in March that documented dozens of major labor-rights violations, including excessive overtime, unpaid wages and salaries that aren’t enough to cover basic living expenses. The FLA’s report said Foxconn agreed to work with the group on improvements, including enacting “full legal compliance” with Chinese work-hour laws by July 2013.

Last month, a large-scale incident involving 2,000 workers forced the temporary closure of Foxconn’s Taiyuan factory. One worker at the scenetermed the situation a riot, and it led to the hospitalization of about 40 people. 

Toxic Foods

How to limit exposure to toxins in foods

Website: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/10/01/how-to-limit-exposure-to-toxins-in-foods/

Back in January of this year, I wrote about fungicide in orange juice and arsenic in apple juice, and wondered what food-poison combo would be next. Well, we have our answer! This week, a new study by Consumer Reports revealed that arsenic is present in a wide range of rice products, from cereal to baby food, and of course, in regular old rice itself.

And because one news story about the toxic nature of our food supply just isn’t enough, recent tests carried out by the Mercury Policy Project of Montpelier found that canned tuna fish used in school lunches contained levels of mercury that sometimes surpassed the federal limit. Why the federal limit isn’t zero is another matter for concern, since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) itself admits that too much mercury exposure can cause kids to develop severe learning disabilities and other negative health effects. Based on the Mercury Policy Project’s findings, canned tuna is currently the number one fish product consumed in the U.S., making tuna the top mercury exposure risk in the American diet.

But mercury and arsenic are present in more than just our food supply.  Arsenic pervades our water, soil, and air because it occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust, and also because of chemicals used in farming and other industries.

The EPA limits the amount of arsenic in this country’s drinking water to 10 parts per billion, but there is no federal limit on the amount of arsenic food can contain, even though experts have long known that plants take up arsenic as they grow. Arsenic’s negative effects on human health are well-established: according to the National Resources Defense Council, a 1999 study by the National Academy of Sciences linked arsenic exposure to bladder, lung and skin cancer. The study also found that arsenic harms the central and peripheral nervous systems; heart and blood vessels; and may cause birth defects and reproductive problems.

In the wake of the Consumer Reports study, three members of Congress from Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York proposed legislation requiring the Food and Drug Administration to set a maximum level of arsenic in rice and rice products and entitled it, The RICE Act (Reducing food-based Inorganic and organic Compounds Exposures).

Unfortunately, this measure and others like it – that “limit” rather than “ban” toxins like arsenic and mercury – don’t go far enough to guard against public health crises.

Even Dr. Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician, epidemiologist and director of Children’s Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, recommended that for the next few months or years, parents “…avoid any rice that comes from Texas, Louisiana or Missouri, and when it doubt go with barley or oatmeal.”

So, how can you avoid exposing your family to mercury and arsenic? For mercury, eat seafood in moderation– it all contains various levels of toxins. While it goes without saying that schools should not serve students mercury-laced foods of any kind, in the meantime, pack your children’s lunches full of nutrient-packed organic fruits and vegetables.  Mercury is also found in dental fillings, light bulbs, thermometers, batteries, certain paints, coal emissions, and a number of common medications.

Though arsenic is almost impossible to avoid because of its deep-rooted presence – natural or otherwise – in our soil, you can try to limit your family’s exposure to this pollutant. Limit products containing brown rice syrup, rice milk, and other rice-based ingredients. Serve your family healthy, less toxic alternatives like organic millet or quinoa, which are packed with protein. Lay off fruit juices made with apples and grapes, which contain high levels of arsenic, according to a Consumer Reports study released earlier this year.  Drink bottled water instead of tap wate. Additives used in poultry feed commonly contain arsenic, which doubles down on its toxicity when the chicken droppings are used as fertilizer and absorbed into the soil.  Unfortunately, baby foods made with rice are another major source of arsenic. Prepare fresh, organic fruits and vegetables for your little one, rather than risk exposing your baby’s tiny body and brain to this known carcinogen.

As ever, know where your food comes from: Even organic rice doesn’t mean arsenic-free, since pesticide runoff from conventional farming practices can persist in soil for decades. But organic rice is still your best choice, since organic food growers guard against exposure to other chemicals routinely found in conventional foods, and use safer, healthier growing methods overall.  The more we buy organic produce and make those farming practices the rule rather than the exception – the healthier we’ll be, the better we’ll feel.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/10/01/how-to-limit-exposure-to-toxins-in-foods/#ixzz287eC2vrL