By Jo Best, 31 August 2006 15:25
NEWS
Foxconn, the company employed by Apple to manufacture the iPod, is taking two Chinese journalists to court over claims about the treatment of workers at factories run by one of its subsidiaries.
The two China Business News journalists at the centre of the case, Wang You and Weng Bao, were initially hit with a suit claiming 30m yuan (around £2m) damages and had their assets, including bank accounts, frozen by a Chinese court.
The disputed articles alleged that workers in Foxconn's Longhua plant were forced into extra overtime, put up with cramped living conditions and had to stand for 12 hours or more at a time.
A recent examination of working conditions by Apple itself - prompted by reports in The Mail on Sunday - found that staff were working longer than their 60 contractual hours and identified other breaches of its code of conduct.
In a statement, Foxconn accused the pair of "careless journalism", adding: "Of this entire episode, what the company had asked for is simply the right to protect her reputation, to preserve the Chinese dignity. Any claim to us is more for its symbolic meaning than anything. We hereby solemnly announce that we will donate entire eventual compensation to non-profit organisation for good cause [sic]."
The suit provoked a media outcry, culminating in an open letter from Reporters Without Borders encouraging Apple boss Steve Jobs to defend the journalists. According to an Apple spokesman, the iPod-maker is "working behind the scenes to resolve this issue".
The furore seems to have achieved its desired effect. Foxconn is now reducing its desired damages from 30m yuan to the token amount of 1 yuan.
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