A Taiwanese supplier for Apple’s iPhone 5C called Pegatron has come under fire after a 15 year old worker passed away from pneumonia.
The 15 year old worker, Shi Zhaokun, checked into a hospital on October 9th and shortly after was pronounced dead. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that while Zhaokun had identification paper that said he was 20, he was in fact 15. The company, takes no responsibility for the death.
However an advocacy organization called, China Labor Watch, said that Pegatron has failed to explain “at least five deaths” that have occurred in the last few months.
“Considering the sudden deaths of five people and the similar reason of the deaths, we believe there should be some relations between the tragedy and the working conditions in the factory,” said Li Qiang, who runs China Labor Watch.
Apple has come under fire time and time again for working conditions at it’s Asian vendor plants. Workers at these plants often work long hours and under bad conditions. Over the past year Apple has taken a proactive stance in improving conditions at it’s plants. However they refused to comment to the Sydney Morning Herald, in this particular case.
Apple’s supplier responsibility statement says that worker’s in their supplier companies in China can’t work more than 60 hours per week. However Shi worked 79 hours in his first week, 77 in his second and 75 in his third, according to records his family had obtained. Pegatron disputed this hours saying that’s when he may have clocked in and out for the day but didn’t factor in breaks.
Pegatron has tried to settle with the family for about $16,000 usd. The employee’s uncle Yang Sen said that Shi had past a pre-employment health screening in September.
Pingback: Worker’s Dying At iPhone 5C Supplier Pegatron | It's My Box