Tech Labor
This week in class we discussed brands like Apple and how they have so much power and money in the tech world that they are able to pick and choose what laws to follow when it comes to labor laws. In the article Circuits of labor: A Labor theory of the iPhone Er, and the video clips we saw in class, we were able to see some of the effects of the way Apple workers were treated. In the manufacturing factories, overtime was forced on every employee, injuries were common, no personal days, people often slept at their stations, and other labor law violations were taking place in china causing a high amount of suicides within that factory. We see stories like these but still see the same laws being broken and it makes you wonder why no one has taken these tragic events seriously. when a company’s products essentially monopolize the world, it is nearly impossible to fight them and force them to abide by the law. There are so many moving parts like consumers, employees, cobalt finders, etc…, that endure the company’s errors because of poverty, desperation, and ignorance. Finding a target to hit so that the whole franchise goes down has yet to be discovered, but when these large companies begin to answer for their actions it will start a chain reaction that will hopefully end these labor law violation in large companies.
