Former Apple Factory Workers Write Letter Urging Action

Two former Apple factory workers – Guo Rui-Qiang and Jia Jing-Chuan — have written a letter detailing how their working conditions led to health problems and urging readers to sign an online petition to get Apple to upgrade conditions.

Here is more from the letter: “In early 2010, it was independently confirmed that 137 workers, including us, were poisoned by a chemical called n-hexane which was used to clean iPhone screens. N-hexane is known to cause eye, skin and respiratory tract irritation, and leads to persistant nerve damage. Apple admitted to gross labour rights violations more than a year later. If more people know about what we went through, Apple will feel pressured to change so other workers don’t have to suffer like we did.”

Apple has come under scrutiny since last month when The New York Times published a story about unsafe working conditions in Apple factories in China. Apple CEO Tim Cook responded by saying that he doesn’t want any Apple employees working in unsafe conditions. Since then, Apple has partnered with the Fair Labor Association to investigate the issue.

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