Apple vows labour abuse probe

Apple will investigate allegations by advocacy group China Labour Watch that factories run by Taiwanese supplier Pegatron use underage workers, pay insufficient wages and force employees to work overtime.

The New York-based group found at least 86 labour rights violations while investigating three Pegatron factories from March to July, it said in a report. Apple has been in close contact with the group for several months, yet the report contains “claims that are new to us”, and those will be probed immediately, Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Apple, said in a phone interview yesterday.

Apple became the first technology company to join the Washington-based Fair Labour Association last year after criticism by human rights organisations about conditions at suppliers including Foxconn Technology Group. Pegatron factories “are even worse than those at Foxconn”, CLW executive director Li Qiang said in a statement yesterday.