The stock of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) closed at $173.14 gaining 1.86% in Friday’s trading session. Apple’s supplier Foxconn is under immense pressure from the concerned parties after it was discovered to have been employing students illegally to help assemble the iPhone X.
Six high school students attested to the fact that they would work 11-hour shifts to help manufacture Apple’s flagship phone and that took place in a factory situated in Zhengzhou, China. The Chinese laws regarding student interns condemn the act of getting the interns to work over such long hours. It was a breach of the law and the manufacturer is now in trouble. The students were not asked if they wanted to work on their own initiative or if they were pressured into it.
A recent report indicated that the six students that were interviewed came from a group of about 3,000 students from Zhengzhou Urban Rail Transit School. These students revealed that they had been sent to work at a local factory operated by the Taiwan-based supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry-Foxconn.
Apple has distanced itself from any blame outlining that it had played its role in the best way possible upon discovering the issue. Through a statement, the company affirmed that it knew it was wrong for the students to be working overtime. It intervened in time and insists that the manufacturer will have to take full responsibility.
Foxconn has been quick to run to its own defense .It recently released a statement outlining that the pressure being exerted upon it was becoming too much yet these students had been working voluntarily.
It added that it had done its part by serving all of them with the highest benefits. However, the authorities still maintain the strong stand that it was completely out of order for the manufacturer to allow them to work overtime.
Normally, most of the student intern programs in this facility happen to be short term and they usually account for quite a minimal percentage of the overall workforce.
Apple’s spokesperson opined, “We have worked tirelessly over the years to make a good name for our company. We will not be a party to anything that might end up tarnishing a reputation we have built for so long.”