The question of the Occupy Movement coming to Apple Stores/retailers troubles the internet today and yesterday. Thursday, Garrett Ellison of mLive reported on how some Apple retailers may be experiencing these troubles in other parts of the US. Another question: Will the "Occupy Apple Movement" travel here? According to a source at the Twelve Oaks Apple Store - it has not come there yet. The same question was going to be posed for the Ann Arbor Apple Store - but a phone call was not answered (the waiting time was a little long).
Our source at the Apple Store commented "Oh, you mean about the Foxconn thing?" The comment is unusual in that suppliers (or their retailers) rarely give out confidential information like - supplier names. Unfortunately for Foxconn and Apple the former has now become infamous. Foxconn came to the news over the issue of worker suicides. Now there are reports of suicide netting and military style punishments (not the extreme kind, just push-ups?). Now protesters are coming to locations like San Francisco and New York. Our favorite little gadgets seem to have created some deep ethical issues.
Apple has reported that some of these suppliers are non-compliant when it comes to some personnel work policies. We searched the Apple and Apple Store retail sites for further information - but have come up empty-handed. It would seem that Apple would have some desire to address these issues in such public consumer forums? Where is the virtual online Apple position on this opening topic? Politicos constantly remind the public that this sort of information needs to be put in front and fast. This is not an opinion - just a virtual review of some research.
Social media has come forward on the idea that Asian-based suppliers have less than desirable working conditions. See the SACOM note on Facebook (late 2010). It's also a trending topic on twitter - and least one or two non-supplier tweeps seem to be outraged. A good source seems to be @4JeffBrown who posted a link to the CNN Money article on the NY petition. Emile Durkheim and his once-controversial work ("Suicide") may now be proven right. Fatalistic suicide is a real and frightening sociological phenomenon. The other Foxconn issues (like explosions, corporal punishment and working conditions) are as much a concern.
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