Like something right out of Captain Renault's mouth in the movie Casablanca, ABC Nightline reporter Bill Weir said "After this trip, I'll never see an Apple product the same way again." Weir had been touring the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, where many Apple products are produced. Are we really so shocked to learn that factory workers in other countries are treated the way they are? Are Americans really that naive?
To combat the negative press, Apple arranged for the Fair Labor Association to audit the Asian production facilities of the companies that produce iPads, iPods, and Macs. Some of the metrics to be used included asking employees how they were hired, if they were offered and signed contracts and whether they understood them, the condition of their dorm rooms and food, if complaints are acted upon, and their emotional well-being.
To understand the considerable cognitive dissonance displayed here, imagine doing a similar audit of the cabin and flight crews at most any regional airline in the US. If the same attention were given to their salary and working conditions, would the same shock be expressed?
Sad thing is, it's not just the service industries that are squeezing the average worker. Outsourcing of manufacturing jobs has been going on for decades. Much of our manufacturing infrastructure in the US has been lost. All the while a massive manufacturing network has grown and flourished in Southeast Asia and China: Most any product you can imagine can either be designed in short order or is already being produced.
America has plenty of anti-union sentiment to go around and we long ago lost respect for the folks who have the skill and ability to do the heavy lifting. Each succeeding generation seems drawn to industries where tremendous profit is made out of thin air rather than by producing a product or providing a valuable service. Near my neighborhood, the new Eastern section of the Bay Bridge that is under construction is being build with steel made in ... guess where?
So lets all take a few nanoseconds to feel guilt and shame about off-shoring US manufacturing, outsourcing service sector jobs, and the working conditions of the people who make our gadgets and then provide customer service for them. Perhaps Bill Weir and the ABC Nightline staff will do some investigative reporting on the working conditions in the US labor market. Perhaps then Bill Weir will never again look at flying on a regional passenger jet in the same way.
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