Inside Apple's top secret iPhone factory: Tech giant provides a glimpse of huge Chinese plant where 50,000 pink-jacketed staff are subjected to facial recognition, metal detectors and daily roll calls
Rare access given inside Pegatron Corp's massive factory in Shanghai, China, which assembles iPhones for Apple.[CN]
为苹果公司组装iPhone手机的和硕联合集团上海大规模工厂内部情形罕见曝光
Workers line up with military precision to have their ID badges scanned on an iPad by a supervisor during roll call.[CN]
点名时,工人们整齐列队,管理者用iPad扫描他们的工牌。
They then make their way in single file to the assembly line where they undergo facial recognition checks to clock in.[CN]
然后他们鱼贯而入(/in single file:排成纵队,鱼贯/),走向装配线,这里他们被要求做面部识别检查,打卡上班(/clock in:打卡上班/)。
Companies granted access to Western media for the first time after facing accusations staff worked gruelling hours.[CN]
在遭到要求工人超负荷工作的指控后,公司首次同意西方媒体的访问。
Military efficiency: Hundreds of workers line up for roll call at the Pegatron factory in Shanghai, China, which makes iPhones for Apple[CN]
军队的效率:数百名工人排队点名(/roll call:点名/)
Clocking in: A supervisor holds an iPad as he checks an employee's badge during roll call at a Pegatron factory in Shanghai, China
Lined up with military precision, hundreds of employees wait to make iPhones at one of the most secretive factories in the Apple production line.[CN]
苹果产品线的一个最秘密的工厂,成百的职员像军队一样排着整齐的队伍,等待制作iPhone手机。
Dressed in pink jackets, blue hairnets and plastic slippers, the workers have their ID badges scanned on an iPad by a supervisor at morning roll call.[CN]
工人们穿着粉红色夹克,戴着蓝色发网,穿着塑料拖鞋,管理者用iPad扫描他们的工牌做早晨的点名。
From there, they make their way in single file to the assembly line but not before undergoing facial recognition checks at security turnstiles to clock in.[CN]
从那里,他们排队走到装配线,但是在之前他们经过安全回转门时被要求做面部扫描检查,打卡上班。
Pegatron Corp employs up to 50,000 people to assemble iPhones at its plant in Shanghai which covers an area the size of 90 football fields.[CN]
该公司在上海的这个工厂雇佣了5万多iPhones装配员工,工厂面积有90个足球场大。
Keeping tabs: A supervisor scans staff into an iPad during the morning roll call before they head to the assembly line to make iPhones
A supervisor checks names of staff at the Pegatron factory, the secretive realm where the world's most profitable smartphones are made
Roll call: Pegatron and Apple have adopted new procedures to keep assemblers from doing excessive overtime after years of accusations
As they enter the compound, workers must pass through metal detectors designed to weed out any camera or video equipment that could be used to leak details of any unreleased technology.
They then climb up a stairwell that has a safety net draped across the middle – to prevent accidents or suicide attempts – before getting changed into their uniforms and lining up for roll call.
Until now, the factory's inner workings have been a closely guarded secret.
But the two firms have, for the first time, allowed a western journalist inside after facing years of accusations that their staff were having to work gruelling hours on low pay.
Jenny Chan, a lecturer at Oxford's Kellogg College, said: 'The fact they let a reporter in shows that they are responding to external pressure and trying to be more transparent. At least on the surface, they're trying to fix something.'
According to China Labour Watch, base salaries are so low employees are forced to work overtime just to get by, with one employee revealing her salary was 2,020 yuan (£230) a month. An iPhone 6 in China costs 4,488 yuan (£480).
Employees line up for roll call at the Pegatron Corp factory in Shanghai, China, before heading to the assembly line for the day's work
Off to work they go: The staff wear blue hair nets and plastic slippers as they make their way to the assembly area after roll call
Army of workers: As many as 50,000 people assemble iPhones at the factory which is part of Apple Inc's closely guarded supply chain
On the march: The workers follow arrows on the floor and inspirational posters on the wall as they make their way to the assembly line
Punching in: Employees make their way towards the assembly line area where the world's most profitable smartphones are made for Apple
Giving a tour to the reporter from Bloomberg, the head of the facility John Sheu said the new ID system was introduced to improve efficiency, adding that 'every seconds counts.'
But he says it also allows the company to monitor when staff are working too many hours by sending managers automated messages if they near the 60-hour weekly limit or have clocked in six days in a row.
Pegatron said it adheres to the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition's guidelines that cap overtime at roughly 80 hours a month, while Apple said its suppliers stick to the industry group's code of conduct.
The system also gives them a higher level of income transparency by letting staff check their hours, pay stubs and monthly lodging and food expenses at touchscreen terminals around the campus.
An employee looks into a facial recognition device which registers workers when they enter the assembly line area at the Pegatron factory
Staff look into facial recognition devices as they swipe their badges to enter the assembly line area at the Pegatron factory in Shanghai
Time for work: Employees walk through turnstiles to enter the assembly line area at the Pegatron Corp factory in Shanghai, China
The factory is one of the most secretive facilities in the iPhone production line and covers an area equal to almost 90 football fields
An employee uses a facial recognition device as she swipes her badge to enter the assembly line area at the Pegatron Corp factory
Access to the factory comes a month after the family of a 26-year-old worker at the plant claimed he died after working up to 12 hours a day.
Tian Fulei was found dead on February 3 in a dormitory he shared with other workers near Shanghai at Pegatron.
A verdict of 'sudden death' was given in court, but no autopsy was carried out.
Mr Tian's family said he worked relentless overtime hours at Pegatron and his death came less than two months after an undercover BBC Panorama investigation revealed how workers there worked to the point of collapse.
His sister, Tian Zhoumei, 25, told MailOnline that her brother had been healthy up until his death and blamed overworking for his demise.
Pegatron has denied a link between the death and his working environment.
The death of Mr Tian once again highlights concerns over the working conditions of lowly-paid workers feeding the world's demands for Apple's products.
The company announced it had made the largest quarterly profit in corporate history in January, posting £11.8bn in its fiscal first quarter. More than 74.5 million iPhones were sold worldwide in the three months leading to December 27 last year.
The Tian family were given 80,000 Yuan (£8,300) as a 'gesture' from Pegatron – an amount upped from 15,000 Yuan (£1,500) after police aided negotiations.
The statement read: 'Worker safety and well-being are our top priorities and we work hard to make sure every Pegatron facility provides a healthy work environment for our workers.
'We are deeply saddened by the loss of Tian Fulei who worked with us as a visual inspector on the assembly line in our Shanghai facility.
'We investigated the circumstances of this case immediately, finding no link to the work environment. We provided support and assistance to the Tian family and our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.'
A
spokesperson for Apple's Supplier Responsibility department said the
company would look into the death-related claims but refused to comment
directly on them.
Industrial: An employee changes into his uniform at his locker before heading to the morning roll call
Staff walk past rows of lockers. Pegatron says it adopted the new ID system to create an efficient and responsible working environment'
More like an airport: Employees sit at an employee service centre inside the Pegatron Corp factory in Shanghai, China
Employees look at their smartphones while sitting at an employee service centre inside the Pegatron Corp factory in Shanghai, China
Employees check their pay stubs on computer terminals at an employee service centre inside the Pegatron Corp factory in Shanghai
Downtime: An employee buys two sausage sticks during his lunch break in the factory canteen
Pictures of employees hang on a wall at an employee service centre inside a Pegatron Corp factory in Shanghai, China
There are over 800,000 people working in state of the art factories in various key areas in China that owners must comply with China laws. The government sets the compensation rate not the factory. Foxconn is also opening up a large plant in India to get ashes to very cheap labour. I do not hear anyone talking about that as yet.[CN]
在中国,有超过80万人工作在几个关键领域的这种技术型工厂,经营者必须遵守中国的法律。政府给予一定比率的补贴。富士康也正在印度开设大型工厂,使用那里的廉价劳动力。我还没听到有人谈论这些。
It's a clean, modern factory that pays above the local wage for equivalent jobs that also follows recognised safety and working hours. If that is depressing UpNorth, maybe you should visit some more factories that are not as good - in this country![CN]
这个工厂干净、现代化,支付高于当地水平的薪水,有有保障的安全环境和工作时间。如果是这让UpNorth感到沮丧,或许你应该去看看这个国家更糟糕的一些工厂。
Yes, they are used to it because they are raised that way. However it looks very depressing and to be honest they look like worker ants all lined up like robots. It's a tough life. No employee should be treated like this. It is very sad indeed.[CN]
是的,他们习惯了,因为他们那样谋生。然而还是让人沮丧,他们看起来像忠实的工蚁,像机器人排着队。生活很艰辛。没有员工像这样被对待,真的很伤心。
They are there to work not faff about and send their "hilarious" pranks to YouTube. That's why we failed as an industrial nation. Too much worker power. These Chinese my look serious here but I'm sure they probably have a lot of fun outside work.[CN]
他们在那里是来工作的,不是瞎忙活,不是为了向YouTube发送他们的滑稽闹剧作品。这就是为什么我们是个失败的工业国家,工人要求太多的权利。这些中国人在这里看起来很严肃,但是我确信,他们工作之外有很多乐趣。
But otherwise, if it was fifty years ago, they would be working out in the ricefields, which would be worse. Wait until they get their first Unionists, Chartists, Co-operative movement and see the change for these workers or their descendants. It will take time, but will inevitably happen.[CN]
否则,要是50年前,他们还在稻田里劳作,更加糟糕。等着瞧到他们建立工会、要求权利的时候,再看这些工人或者他们子孙的变化。迟早会发生的,只是时间问题。
So the iPhone is not made by children in a sweatshop after all?[CN]
原来iPhone根本不是在血汗工厂由孩子们制造的啊?