Just a few days ago Auret van Heerden, FLA head, had made an initial visit to the factories and stated, “The working conditions to be far better than most other facilities in the countries” – the visits on the initial request that Apple has made to the Fair Labor Association (FLA) will conduct special voluntary audits of Apple’s final assembly suppliers, including Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China – Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Fair Labor Association group tasked with auditing a Foxconn Technology Group plant in Shenzhen, China has found a ‘ton of issues’ that need fixing.
His new findings speak a lot:
“We’re finding tons of issues,” van Heerden said en route to a meeting where FLA inspectors were scheduled to present preliminary findings to Foxconn management. “I believe we’re going to see some very significant announcements in the near future.”
Going back and checking the earlier Reuters reports, he signs for many positive things about Apple’s working conditions in Chinese factories:
”The facilities are first-class; the physical conditions are way, way above average of the norm,” said van Heerden, adding that he was “very surprised when I walked onto the floor at Foxconn, how tranquil it is compared with a garment factory.”
There is reportedly around 30 staff members for the FLA performing the current survey – Around 35,000 workers will be interviewed, 30 at a time, and they will enter responses to questions onto iPads. These interviews will be done on the Foxconn site, something some experts say will make it more difficult to get honest answers.
Adding further to the current findings:
“Foxconn is cooperating fully with this audit and we will review and act on all findings and recommendations,” Foxconn said in an e-mailed statement today. “This is a very professional and thorough review and any deficiencies the FLA might find in the implementation of customer or Foxconn policies will be addressed.”
Van Heerden and the FLA have been used by Apple to perform audits of Foxconn before also – the mixed jukebox of messages being delivered by FLA head can’t be making and coming to any conclusion in the eyes of those who believe it is not doing any of the type to improve working conditions in its Chinese factories.
