It's not so much the midnight wakeup and the rush to accomplish some necessary goal. In the right circumstances, that's actually kind of neat.
But we do have to understand, these employees live their lives in company dormitories, and for this above and beyond effort, are not paid in overtime, but with a biscuit.
Apple (and others) are arbitraging the more humane and worthwhile labor arrangements our parents (and their parents) literally fought for, and died for, to make our working lives much better.
It actually is, pretty despicable, not that foreign workers are given a chance to better their lives, but that the Apple's (and others) decisions work not to raise everyone up, but to bring us all down to a minimal level.
I think all of us are eager to see living and wage conditions rise all around the world. It is the race to the bottom that is disturbing.
If China were to improve its records on the environment, worker rights, and human rights, it sounds (from the article) as if they would still have an advantage in manufacturing that would be pretty hard to overcome by another country.
But I would certainly feel a lot better, and would even be willing to pay a bit more for my products, knowing that the government did indeed enforce similar regulations to what we see in Western countries.
Ironically, the Chinese government, which is still ruled by the "Communist" party, is demonstrating the worst aspects of capitalism -- namely, that profit trumps all other considerations.
Nah. That's the price you pay to make Apple move their factories from the US to China. If not, Apple will make their plants in the US.
As some has mentioned, it's the price you pay for growth when you are poor. I have been there, and done that. Still not rich, but situation improved. I couldn't do it otherwise, and I'm happy I did it and moved forward.
The advantage is partly from having less focus on the good of an individual vs the good of the whole. It looks like there's an inherent cultural aspect to this that exceeds what we've ever seen in "western" cultures, but some of it will almost certainly fall by the wayside as economic development continues, as it did in the west.
The edge will probably be there for generations to come, but I expect the gap to shrink dramatically.
The list of things that both you and the person who is roused at midnight both chose:
- The job.
The list of things you get to choose while you're on call and what the person who is roused at midnight did not get to choose:
- Where to live.
- What to eat.
- What kind of bed in which to sleep.
- What type of housing in which to live.
- The mode of transportation to and from work.
- The environment of living in which to simply exist.
Here in India, being permitted to live on site is considered a perk of employment by many. Among other benefits, if you are a migrant worker, it means you don't need to pay for both your family's housing and your own.
But we do have to understand, these employees live their lives in company dormitories, and for this above and beyond effort, are not paid in overtime, but with a biscuit.
Apple (and others) are arbitraging the more humane and worthwhile labor arrangements our parents (and their parents) literally fought for, and died for, to make our working lives much better.
It actually is, pretty despicable, not that foreign workers are given a chance to better their lives, but that the Apple's (and others) decisions work not to raise everyone up, but to bring us all down to a minimal level.
I think all of us are eager to see living and wage conditions rise all around the world. It is the race to the bottom that is disturbing.