Apple gadget maker has 'significant' labor issues

Workplace abuses were uncovered in an audit that equated to "a full body scan" of three Chinese factories pumping out coveted Apple gadgets, independent investigators reported on Thursday. Employees at each of the factories had exceeded a work-week limit of 76 hours set by Chinese law and, in some cases, worked more than seven days straight without a required 24-hour break, according to the Fair Labor Association. "The Fair Labor Association gave Apple's largest supplier the equivalent of a full-body scan through 3,000 staff hours investigating three of its factories and surveying more than 35,000 workers," said FLA president Auret van Heerden. "Apple and its supplier Foxconn have agreed to our prescriptions, and we will verify progress and report publicly." Along with excessive overtime and not always compensating workers properly for extra hours that were put in, the nearly month-long investigation uncovered health and safety risks and "crucial communication gaps." Foxconn has pledged to bring factory conditions into full compliance with Chinese law and FLA standards regarding working hours by July of next year, according to the report. "If implemented, these commitments will significantly improve the lives of more than 1.2 million Foxconn employees and set a new standard for Chinese factories," van Heerden said. The report was released as Apple chief Tim Cook paid a visit to China, where state media said the man tipped to be country's next leader had told him foreign firms should do more to protect workers. International labor watchdog groups have said workers in Chinese plants run by major Apple supplier Foxconn of Taiwan are poorly treated, and have blamed a string of apparent suicides on the conditions. Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who is likely to be China's next premier, met Tim Cook while the new Apple chief executive was visiting Beijing on Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Li told Cook multinational companies should "pay more attention to caring for workers," the report said. Cook on Wednesday visited a Foxconn plant employing 120,000 people in China's central city of Zhengzhou, where he viewed the production line, Apple said. California-based Apple is wildly popular in China, where its products such as the iPhone and iPad are coveted by wealthy consumers.