Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
With the iPhone 12 line of devices available now, one of Apple’s manufacturers has found itself in hot water. Apple announced today that it is suspending future business with Pegatron after it was discovered that the company violated labor laws in China.
Apple announced the move on Monday, November 9. The story was first reported by The New York Times. “Several weeks ago, we discovered Pegatron — one of Apple’s suppliers in China — violated Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct in its administration of a student work study program,” an Apple spokesperson shared with CNBC. Pegatron deliberately violated Apple’s code of conduct by misclassifying student workers, allowing them to work overtime and nights.
Pegatron also falsified paperwork in order to help hide the fact that it was violating Apple’s labor code. Apple has not explicitly said how long it will be suspending its operations with Pegatron, instead stating that the suspension will stand until Pegatron fixes the issues that landed them here in the first place. Pegatron manufactured a number of the new iPhones that recently went on sale, but Apple stated that the suspension would not cause delays in shipments.
Violation of labor laws is a large concern throughout the tech industry, so it's no surprise that Apple acted swiftly upon learning that one of its manufacturers breached its code of conduct. It remains to be seen how this will impact Apple’s other manufactures, or the production of the company’s products going forward. For more on Apple and the world of technology, keep it tuned to Shacknews.