Earlier this week, Apple took over the headlines with its raving fourth quarter success, but just days after the media started covering reports of bad treatment of workers in the company’s supply chain. The negative reports got Tim Cook to end the silence and to state that Apple cares about all its workers.
It started with a recent report published in the New York Times that said Apple’s fourth quarter revenues should be put under scrutiny when taking into account how Apple workers are treated in Foxconn units throughout China.
The report says that while the negative feedback applies to other companies as well, it is “Apple’s culture of secrecy” that makes it difficult to truly be aware of how its products are made and the work conditions. According to the New York Times the problem is that “Apple’s goal of reducing or eliminating inhumane working conditions bumps up against Apple’s profit motive”.
But, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO did not respond to Times’ allegations, however he is said to have sent a letter to its staff that denies any allegations regarding a lack of care regarding the workforce.
“As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today and I’d like to address this with you directly” started Tim Cook his letter. He continued saying that the company cares “about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern”.
Cook called any suggestion that the company doesn’t care to be “patently false and offensive”. “As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are”. And then the CEO talks about how much has Apple done for people in overseas factories, since it has started to inspect more factories and raised the bar for its partners all through the supply chain.
“As we reported earlier this month, we’ve made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers. We know of no one in our industry doing as much as we are” said Tim Cook.
