New Report Says Apple's Battery Suppliers Use Cobalt Mined by Child Labor

[CarlJ]

I think Apple (Cook), brings the bullseye on itself with all the self righteous boasting on equality, fairness, the environment, etc.

I don't really see them boasting. I see Tim saying, "look, this is something we care about, and we're going to keep you updated on where we're at on it to keep the pressure on ourselves." They're doing a good job of trying to keep bad chemicals and bad labor practices out of their products. If this new thing is real, I'm sure they'll take care of it. I suspect if competing companies had records anywhere near as good, they'd be talking about it too.

 

[MH01]

Huh? There's nothing in the article about an Apple supplier using child labor. AI claims that cobalt is mined in the DRC using child labor. That cobalt is then sold on the world markets. Apple buys batteries from its suppliers, who manufacture them using cobalt bought on these markets. If it's like any other commodity, there could be any number of intermediaries in the chain. Basically any battery using cobalt would likely have a little bit that was mined using child labor.

The article says:

- there are areas with child labor
- cobalt from these areas is bought from the mines by local traders. Note the article never says definitively that children work in the cobalt mines
- local traders sell it to Congo Dongfan Mining/Huayou Cobalt
- Huayou Cobalt sells the process Cobalt to three battery component makers
- the battery component makers turn the cobalt into components and sell to unnamed battery makers
- these battery makers "claim" to sell to Apple, Samsung, car manufacturers, etc.

Not only are there enough hedging words to make the chain less than definitive, but there are FOUR intermediaries between Apple and the possible child labor.

Children mine the ore. You should consider consider mining to be part of the supply chain.

also it's not possible child labour, it is child labour.

Read the report . Not the article.

It's an issue for the industry as a whole. Apple is part of that industry as its a major electronics maker, compared to Sony or Samsung, they are a small player.

The MR headline is changed to highlight Apple and generate debate. They should have used the original amnesty headline.

 

[beanbaguk]

"I am your leader"

Welcome to "1984" people....

 

[Kebabselector]

Don't worry, when Trump is in power he'll make Apple mine the cobalt in the USA

 

[beanbaguk]

Don't worry, when Trump is in power he'll make Apple mine the cobalt in the USA

No doubt using forced labour from the concentration camps that he plans to set up full of Mexicans and Muslims.

The man sounds like a modern day Hitler. I hope for the sake of the US, he never gets near the White House.

 

[Kajje]

My little boy plays with a device I bought for him from Apple that contains a battery that could be claimed to be bought by battery makers using parts bought from
unnamed battery component makers that might have bought processed cobalt from Huayou Cobalt Mining which buys this cobalt from local traders which are doing business in areas that
are prone for child labour.

I thought to put him on a week long dishes chore as a punishment, but didn't. After all, that could bring those poor children in Congo potentially in a lot of trouble.

But let's put the ridiculizing apart...

It seems that there is 40,000 (fourthy thousand!!!!) children doing this labour every single day. That's a huge load of little hands and that's hard to stay unnoticed.
We always (pre)tend to know the solution but fact is we don't understand the local situation at all.
Sure, cutting down supplier relations is the easiest black and white solution. Children will loose their jobs and go to school, right?
No, these children will have to find another 'job', or their family might die from hunger.
There are no such things as schools there in the sense we think about when we hear the word 'school'.
Proper schooling systems must be offered, endorsed, encouraged and enforced by the local government.
However the governments in these countries either don't care, or have -in their eyes- more lucrative things to do.
I know I'm on thin ice here, but in this situation these children (are forced to) choose the best (read: least worse) option, which is working in the mines.

Sadly I'm afraid Cook hasn't too much options to improve this situation and blaming him would be very short visioned.

*** DISCLAIMER: I do not, by any means, encourage or child labour. Children should be in a real school and after schoold they should play with fellow children.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

While American concern labor condition in China or child labor in Africa, Chinese purchased GE appliance, IBM PC, ...

Something Americans should be concerned about.

 

[beanbaguk]

My little boy plays with a device I bought for him from Apple that contains a battery that could be claimed to be bought by battery makers using parts bought from
unnamed battery component makers that might have bought processed cobalt from Huayou Cobalt Mining which buys this cobalt from local traders which are doing business in areas that
are prone for child labour.

I thought to put him on a week long dishes chore as a punishment, but didn't. After all, that could bring those poor children in Congo potentially in a lot of trouble.

But let's put the ridiculizing apart...

It seems that there is 40,000 (fourthy thousand!!!!) children doing this labour every single day. That's a huge load of little hands and that's hard to stay unnoticed.
We always (pre)tend to know the solution but fact is we don't understand the local situation at all.
Sure, cutting down supplier relations is the easiest black and white solution. Children will loose their jobs and go to school, right?
No, these children will have to find another 'job', or their family might die from hunger.
There are no such things as schools there in the sense we think about when we hear the word 'school'.
Proper schooling systems must be offered, endorsed, encouraged and enforced by the local government.
However the governments in these countries either don't care, or have -in their eyes- more lucrative things to do.
I know I'm on thin ice here, but in this situation these children (are forced to) choose the best (read: least worse) option, which is working in the mines.

Sadly I'm afraid Cook hasn't too much options to improve this situation and blaming him would be very short visioned.

*** DISCLAIMER: I do not, by any means, encourage or child labour. Children should be in a real school and after schoold they should play with fellow children.

You're completely wrong.

Apple DO have the power to change their supply lines. As do all other corporates. Whether they know or not, it's irresponsible to find out and let it slide, plus they should be doing a lot more to make sure it never happens in the first place.

Inspectors are expensive but Apple can afford them and they should make the effort to ensure all raw material sites are inspected constantly.

 

[sim667]

China doesn't generally use child labour. Chinese children are in school.

This article is a little out of date, but there is still *some* child labour in China

http://www.poverties.org/child-labor-in-china.html

Child labour is largely banned and very limited, however lately it has emerged again in a few factories that manufacture electronic products, for Samsung or Apple for example.

However, as I said, its 3 years out of date.

 

[Kabeyun]

"New Report Says Apple's Battery Suppliers Use Cobalt Mined by Child Labor" just doesn't get the same number of clicks as the honest headline, "New Report Says Battery Suppliers Use Cobalt Mined by Child Labor".

Absolutely!

This headline is intentionally misleading. It's not Apple batteries. It's lithium ion batteries.

The MacRumors slide continues...

 

[freepomme]

All smartphones use precious minerals resources found only in Africa, so it is exploited by us to help all of you. This is no secret. What you have in your hand has coltan in it.

 

[MH01]

My little boy plays with a device I bought for him from Apple that contains a battery that could be claimed to be bought by battery makers using parts bought from
unnamed battery component makers that might have bought processed cobalt from Huayou Cobalt Mining which buys this cobalt from local traders which are doing business in areas that
are prone for child labour.

I thought to put him on a week long dishes chore as a punishment, but didn't. After all, that could bring those poor children in Congo potentially in a lot of trouble.

But let's put the ridiculizing apart...

It seems that there is 40,000 (fourthy thousand!!!!) children doing this labour every single day. That's a huge load of little hands and that's hard to stay unnoticed.
We always (pre)tend to know the solution but fact is we don't understand the local situation at all.
Sure, cutting down supplier relations is the easiest black and white solution. Children will loose their jobs and go to school, right?
No, these children will have to find another 'job', or their family might die from hunger.
There are no such things as schools there in the sense we think about when we hear the word 'school'.
Proper schooling systems must be offered, endorsed, encouraged and enforced by the local government.
However the governments in these countries either don't care, or have -in their eyes- more lucrative things to do.
I know I'm on thin ice here, but in this situation these children (are forced to) choose the best (read: least worse) option, which is working in the mines.

Sadly I'm afraid Cook hasn't too much options to improve this situation and blaming him would be very short visioned.

*** DISCLAIMER: I do not, by any means, encourage or child labour. Children should be in a real school and after schoold they should play with fellow children.

What's the worst option in this choice?

These mines have no health and safety aspects in most cases, and accidents lead to death. This is one of the worst jobs a child can be involved in. If they closed all these mines down, the kids would be better off. A child should not work in an environment where they can die. Mines are dangerous even when run by large companies.

99.99999% of people on this forum could not hack one physical day in a mine.

Fundamentally I agree with your point , just not the shrug....oww well it's just the way it is.

It amnesty internationals job to highlight it, so someone does something, anything to improve the dire situation.

And as I have said it before, it's not Apple problem, MR have twisted the headline to generate clicks, it's and industry issue.

 

[jm001]

A new item to address in the next sustainability report.

I do wonder, however, why apple isn't just backtracking the raw material chain in its products now.

Yes it is a big expensive task but rather than be blindsided by these topics every two years or so, Apple should just get way the hell out in front of the topic and let the other companies try to catch up.

It's so far down the line and this practice is so wide spread amongst resource suppliers that one probably wouldn't come out clean dealing with the other battery manufacturers. It seems the only way to do things "clean" these days is to make the parts yourself. Relying on the honesty of other companies hasn't bode well for Apple in the past. Apple can only control what they control. These suppliers ARE probably following Apple regulations as they themselves don't use child labour. It's where they get their resources from that is the problem. Apple may have to work backwards, find cobalt mining companies that follow agreeable labour practices and then find out who deals with them and go from there.

 

[furi0usbee]

1. Actually apple can stop it. That's why they do the sustainability reports.

2. And most of the world is civilised these days. Congo is very much the exception.

That would be NO to both of your points.
[doublepost=1453204452][/doublepost]

New Investigation Finds Reporters from MacRumors and AppleInsider Use Devices Manufactured With Cobalt Mined by Child Labor and Heartless Visitors to MacRumors Continue to Read Their Content

 

[beanbaguk]

Actually apple can stop it. That's why they do the sustainability reports.

And most of the world is civilised these days. Congo is very much the exception.

Wow! That's quite a statement to make.

 

[_Refurbished_]

New Investigation Finds Reporters from MacRumors and AppleInsider Use Devices Manufactured With Cobalt Mined by Child Labor

Fantastic.

 

[newdeal]

I find it somewhat odd that we force our values onto a country that shares nothing with North American culture. Ok so kids are working, in the Congo that is likely in order to help their family survive, its not slave labour these kids likely want to work

 

[0098386]

Wonder if anyone here supports child labour now?

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

What I find most disingenuous is the fact that Apple always gets these types of headlines... despite the fact that the other manufacturers are also as culpable (or not culpable) as Apple.

In this age low-information, some will read the headline, blame Apple and not bother reading even the first paragraph of the article.

They're the biggest company and the one that draws readers. Everyone made a big deal about Foxconn and Apple even though Foxconn makes EVERYONE'S products. They make stuff for Sony, Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft, GE, Motorola, Google, Blackberry, and pretty much every other large company. But Apple in the headline draws readers. People wouldn't take notice if Sony was substituted for Apple in the story.

 

[Kissaragi]

Apple and the other big companies have enough money and resources to be back tracking everything they use to avoid situations like this and help expose places that use child labour. Theres no excuse for it to be happening anymore.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Apple and the other big companies have enough money and resources to be back tracking everything they use to avoid situations like this and help expose places that use child labour. Theres no excuse for it to be happening anymore.

I would respectfully disagree. It is an abominable practice, but Apple (and the others) are in a contractual relationship with the manufacturers and material/parts suppliers. Apple cannot police the world any more than the US military can.

And to take it a step further, is Apple in "double whammy" now since (1) they were named as a company that uses materials, allegedly provided with the involvement of child labor and (2) one of their suppliers is Samsung, who likewise, apparently, uses materials provided with the involvement of child labor?

 

[hybroid]

Wonder if anyone here supports child labour now?

That's very difficult to answer. It's easy for US to sit here and say child labour is WRONG and must never happen. In a humanity sense, that's very true and it really shouldn't. However, stopping children in underdeveloped countries working stops their money supply and consequently they are unable to feed their families.

Absolutely no argument that forced/slave child labour is not acceptable under any circumstances and should be banished. But a lot of these work from desperation to survive for them and their families. You're cutting their lifeline supply... It's difficult to pick a side.

 

[thatanonymoususer]

Not sure what I think of this. A supplier is found exploiting children, and they get to buy their way out of it? Plus when they're older the kids might end up working at the very company that exploited them?

I'm not saying I know what the right solution is, but this doesn't seem like it.

I think it's more about forcing change. An educated member of society is going to want higher wages and also not tollerate crappy work conditions because they know better (in some cases). The company also hopefully learns that investing in education results in better workers. It also hopefully breaks the cycle a bit as educated members of society tend to have children who end up being educated because they pass on the notion of its value and have the capital to make it happen. This would hopefully mean that the company's forced investment would influence multiple generations.

Apple probably wants to have long-lasting influence by having the company hire those that they hurt. They grow up liking Apple because they got them an education, and company employees who grew up as child laborers but then got an education instead would probably be less likely to hire child laborers in the future.

Apple might not be able to take legal action in these countries against child labor, so this might be their best alternative - make the alternate look as attractive as possible.

 

[antonis]

Apple cannot police the world any more than the US military can.

I agree with the exception of this specific parallelism. US military DOES police the world, when there's profit out of it.
Apple cannot, though.

Generally, the west/developed countries are not very willing to change a bad situation when there's no profit from it.

 

[imola.zhp]

clickity click bait