Artist’s impression of discussion on freedom of association at
GoodElectronics and makeITfair Round Table with the electronics
industry, 9-10 May, Amsterdam. By Maarten Wolterink.
Latest News
Explanation Conflict Free Tin Initiative
A short video about the Conflict-Free Tin Initiative (CFTI). Jaime Bourbon-Parma, Special Envoy Natural Resources (Netherlands), explains what CFTI hopes to achieve: Create demand for conflict-free tin from Eastern Congo and thereby create a prospect for economic development and regional stability.
Epeat expands its activities to imaging equipment
This February 12th, Epeat announced its expansion to imaging equipment as scanners, printers and copiers.
French NGOs file complaint against Samsung over Chinese labour practices
Last February 27th, three NGOs filed a complaint with a French prosecutor's office against Samsung, addressing Samsung's subsidiary in France, holding Samsung responsible for labour violations in China. The complaint was filed with the prosecutor's office in Bobigny, Paris, by Peuples Solidaires, Sherpa and Indecosa-CGT
Series of reports on corporate responsibility of mobile network operators across Europe
makeITfair reports on the corporate responsibility of mobile network operators across Europe. Focused research was conducted into the human rights policies and practices of mobile network operators in Sweden, Germany, Finland, and Hungary.
Apple fails in its responsibility to monitor suppliers
At the occasion of the Apple shareholders meeting, Hong Kong-based labour group SACOM has published a new report on Apple. SACOM is highly critical of working conditions at Apple suppliers in China. While Apple claims that it requires its suppliers to uphold its workers' basic human rights as understood by the international community, and to treat them with dignity and respect, SACOM's investigations demonstrate that Apple supplier factories are intensifying a military-style management of workers. To make sure workers meet the daily production targets, Apple suppliers resort to inhumane labour practices, even to the extent of denying workers' basic human needs, such as allowing bathroom breaks, sufficient rest, and access to proper nutrition; these conditions partly contribute to the high labour turnover rate. Increasingly, Apple suppliers use student workers from vocational schools from all over China, under the guise of “student internships”. These alarming findings prove that Apple suppliers are indeed sweatshops that exploit their workers, writes SACOM.
