The secret side of Apple

It is no secret that Apple, the company responsible for some of the most groundbreaking electronic products, is the biggest company in the world. And while most people think the worst part of the company is the outrageous prices of their products, it actually is the way they make their products.

Most of the world’s products are manufactured in China and Apple’s products are no different, but unlike other companies whose products are made in normal factories, Apple’s electronic devices are created in “sweatshops”. Sweatshops are defined as factories that violate 2 or more labor laws, they often have poor working conditions, low pay, and unreasonable work hours. The employees in Apple’s sweatshops are paid as little as £1.12 an hour which is not even enough to pay taxes and it would take them at least 3 months to have enough to buy the cheapest iPad. Because of this and the fact that they often have to stand for their entire shifts, 18 workers have taken their lives in the factory. In response, managers decided to install nets to stop them from falling of the windows.

The situation is getting worse and Apple is doing very little to stop it, so what is there to do? Well, first of all, you should try buying local or second-hand products, in which way you can minimize the labor in China by not supporting companies that use it. Secondly, you should ask the people who work at the companies you buy from for more information on the matter to decide if you’ll buy from them. And most importantly, you should educate others on this to stop them from unknowingly supporting companies that use sweatshops.

Dimitris Manolessos