Most of the talks I give touch on some aspect of my family background. But for plenty of reasons, I’ve skirted opportunities to go deeper (except in Junkyard Planet). But back in June, when I was invited to participate in TEDxBeijing, I decided to dig a little deeper. In part I did so because I’ve…
All posts in Labor
American Dockworkers Are Savaging Your Recycling Bin.
Last year, roughly one-third of the recycling generated in the United States was exported to more than 160 countries and territories. That’s 42.8 million tons – enough weight to fill over 2 million standard-sized shipping containers – worth $23.7 billion. China was the top destination for those exports (Canada was number two), while South Korea,…
When Child Labor Isn’t Child Labor, and ‘Underage Labor’ is Just Something You Say.
What motivates an activist to exaggerate and even lie about the conditions in which Chinese laborers live and work? Like many, I first pondered this question after hearing Mike Daisey’s infamous This American Life episode. And, like many, I never thought that others would dare follow in his dishonest footsteps. Then I came across China Labor Watch (or…
What Henry Blodget Didn’t Get About Foxconn
On Friday, China Labor Watch, a New York-based NGO that claims to be “dedicated to promoting workers’ fair redistribution of wealth under globalization,” announced that a “large-scale strike” had shut down a Foxconn factory that manufactures the iPhone 5. The group didn’t cite its sources for the story, but that didn’t stop several major news organizations…
The Labor Activist Who Just Can’t Do It Without His iPhone. [Updated, with a response to critics.]
OR “Is Mike Daisey Actually a Guerilla Marketer in the Employ of Apple?” ————————- Late last week activists delivered 250,000 signatures demanding that Apple improve working conditions for workers employed by its Chinese manufacturers. One of those petitions, organized by change.org, specifically cited the American radio program, This American Life, and a segment that it…
Reprise: Wasted 7/7, from the Motor Breakers to the Sample Room
Last week, in my capacity as a guest-blogger on Jim Fallows’ site at the Atlantic, I wrote a series of seven short blog posts, each accompanied by two photos (except for the last) showing a scene from Asia’s scrap recycling trade. My purpose was two-fold: first, I wanted to give Jim’s readers a peak inside…
The aging face of what we think of when we think of Chinese labor.
Below, a photo of a metal sorter in Jiangsu Province, China. To those who don’t recognize what she’s doing, it may look like she’s sorting garbage. To those who do, they know that she’s a semi-skilled laborer who can distinguish different types of metal by sight and feel. That job description doesn’t generate much respect…
Get Your Used (stolen?) iPhones at Best Buy Shanghai (Xujiahui, 3rd floor)
Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday shopping rush I come across evidence that at least one high-profile US-based entry into China’s cut-throat, price-sensitive retail market isn’t working out exactly as planned. I’m talking about Best Buy, North America’s largest electronics retailer. Three years ago they entered the Chinese market with plans to counter China’s…
More on Apple and manufacturing in China.
Last week I posted on the bizarre spectacle of Apple’s fanboys rallying to the defense of their favorite computer company on the occasion of a negative Daily Telegraph story on Apple’s safety, environmental, and labor record in China. To my surprise, the post generated a significant amount of traffic and – best of all –…
Why are the fanboys rushing to defend Apple’s child labor record?
[UPDATE: Outside of the Chinese media and the Daily Telegraph, it seems like nobody is particularly interested in covering Apple’s child labor record. TechNewsWorld takes a hard look at why, and comes down hard on a compliant, Apple-infatuated media.] Spend any time reading online technology reviews and you’ve inevitably come across the Apple Fanboys –…