Apple Investigating Worker-Abuse Charges at “iPhone C” Supplier

Apple hasn’t even launched the less-expensive iPhone it’s rumored to have in the pipeline, but already a company involved in its manufacture stands accused of labor violations.

China Labor Watch decried Apple supplier Jabil Circuit for a broad range of ethical and legal labor violations at its factory in Wuxi, China: Hiring discrimination, overcrowding, poor training, mandatory overtime — three times in excess of legal limits — and the withholding of overtime pay. Together, they constitute what the watchdog organization describes as a systemic pattern of violation, one that “runs counter to Apple’s Code of Conduct and their self-reporting of conditions at these facilities.” Apple has dispatched a team to the Jabil facility to investigate the group’s claims.