Wednesday, October 10, 2012 see past shows

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  • Democracy Now !

    As Millions Buy iPhone 5, Chinese Workers at Apple Plant Foxconn Protest Workplace Conditions
    http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/10/as_millions_buy_iphone_5_chinese

    AMY GOODMAN: Li Qiang, what do you—what do you think needs to happen now? We are hearing about the thousands of people walking out. There are millions of phones all over this country. The iPhone 5 is probably one of the most popular products in history. What do you think Americans should know, people all over the world should know?

    LI QIANG: [translated] I think they can exert some influence on the Apple company so that Apple can try to improve some of the working conditions of those Foxconn factories in China, and so Apple can offer some trainings to the workers so that their working conditions can be improved and their benefits and salaries can be increased somehow.

    This time for the strike was originally caused by the complaints from the clients of the—or the consumers of the iPhone 5. Because they wrote letters or emails to Apple company, and then the Apple company just transferred this pressure on to Foxconn CEOs or management, and then Foxconn transferred this pressure or put this pressure on to the factories. Because there’s the products that have been manufactured on the production lines cannot live up to the standard of their qualifications, so the workers started to hit the quality control inspectors.