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# BBC Alleges Working Condition Violations At Apple Factories In China

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fwFt4TC4.m3u8" -->
## Video: BBC Alleges Working Condition Violations At Apple Factories In China

[Watch (HLS stream): BBC Alleges Working Condition Violations At Apple Factories In China](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fwFt4TC4.m3u8) (1:06)

![BBC Alleges Working Condition Violations At Apple Factories In China](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fwFt4TC4/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-12-19. Apple CEO Tim Cook is “deeply offended” by a BBC report that sent undercover reporters into Chinese factories where Apple products are made. That investigation alleges violations in underage worker guidelines and work hours._


---

Jul 27, 2023 5:40 PM UTC

---

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## Transcript

A new BBC investigation has once again highlighted poor working conditions in electronics plants in China. Those that make Apple products specifically. Shifts have overtime built in so workers regularly do more than 60 hours a week more than Apple's guidelines. Under cover reporters found violations in everything from work hours to underage work policies and dormitory standards. Apple strongly disagrees with the reports findings, with Senior VP, Jeff Williams, characterizing the BBC's coverage as incomplete, but while critics have taken issue with the focus on Apple specifically, Fortune's Phillip Elmer Dewitt writes, it's true that every major high tech manufacturer exploits the same Asian workforce.

But no one relies more heavily on that workforce than Apple. For better or for worse, aspects of BBC's report are familiar territory. It's much like coverage from 2010 and 2012, which has highlighted dangerous working conditions in a number of suicides among suppliers for Apple and other companies. BBC's hour- long report aired Thursday and is now available to stream on its website.

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