Watchdog uncovers ‘ tons of issues’ at Apple’s Chinese plant

The Fair Labor Association, a watchdog monitoring working conditions at makers of Apple Inc. products, has uncovered “tons of issues” that need to be addressed at a Foxconn Technology Group plant in Shenzhen, China, FLA chief executive officer Auret van Heerden said.

Van Heerden made the comments in a telephone interview after a multiday inspection of the factory. Apple, the first technology company to join the FLA, said on Feb. 13 that it asked the Washington- based non- profit organization to inspect plants owned by three of its largest manufacturing partners.

“We’re finding tons of issues,” van Heerden said en route to a meeting where FLA inspectors were to present early findings to Foxconn management. The FLA plans to release more about its inspection in the coming weeks.

“Foxconn is cooperating fully with this audit and we will review and act on all findings and recommendations,” Foxconn said in an emailed statement.

Van Heerden said in an interview with Reuters published Feb. 15 that Foxconn’s plants were “first class.”

Heather White, the founder of Verite, another monitoring group, said that many alleged violations such as use of toxic chemicals can be hard to detect.

Van Heerden said the comments reflected his previous interactions with Foxconn.

Apple had commissioned the FLA to carry out smaller projects in the past two years, in order to try out some of the inspection techniques used by the group to more effectively root out workplace problems.

Van Heerden said he had been impressed with Apple and Foxconn’s responses to hazards related to the polishing of aluminum, which led to explosions at Foxconn and another Apple supplier, Pegatron Corp., that killed at least three workers and injured more than 70 people last year. Van Heerden said that Apple researched the problem and hired a respected consultant. In response, Foxconn bought state- of- the- art extraction and ventilation equipment, and developed an automated approach so that no humans are involved in the polishing work.

Van Heerden said that FLA’S 30- person inspection team will interview 35,000 Foxconn employees, via meetings with small groups of randomly picked workers.

White, who is a fellow at Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, says meetings on Foxconn’s premises may not yield honest responses. She says she found it more productive to talk to workers at off- site locations.