Wired News’s Leander Kahney points out something I missed in Apple’s report on labor conditions in the Chinese “iPod City” factories — there are no unions:
But the big gaping hole is the absence of unions. The report makes no mention of them, but even Apple’s own code of conduct recognizes the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively. (Replying to a query, Apple sent an e-mail with PR boilerplate citing its commitment to workers’ dignity.)
Of course, the ban on unions isn’t Apple’s dictate, nor its contractors. It’s the Chinese government’s.
Unions are out of fashion in the Western world, but the benefits we enjoy at work were hard fought by our predecessors. There may be a limited role for unions in my white-collar workplace, but that’s not true in China and elsewhere manufacturing has been outsourced.