Apple supplier Pegatron is once more under scrutiny, following the unexplained deaths of “at least five” workers. One of the deaths was that of a 15-year-old boy, who was one year under the legal age for workers in China.
One worker, Shi Zhaokun, was just 15 years old but was hired at a Pegatron plant in Shanghai after producing forged identity documents that said he was 20, according to a report from The New York Times. After one month in the factory, which manufactures Apple’s iPhone 5c, Shi died of pneumonia in a Shanghai hospital.
Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct stipulates that workers must be at least 16 years of age, and cannot be allowed to work more than 60 hours per week. This aligns with Chinese labor laws. Pegatron is alleged to have broken both these commandments. Time sheets Shi’s family provided to reporters show an average of 77 hours worked each week. Pegatron, while not disputing the authenticity of the documents, notes that the logs do not reflect break time.
Chinese labor activists point to Shi’s, and a string of other deaths, as being related to working conditions at Pegatron factories. The company, while acknowledging the deaths, has denied those allegations.
Pegatron was accused of labor violations earlier this year, when an undercover investigation by the China Labor Watch activist group reported workers were forced to work more than the 60-hour-per-week limit, while those who refused the extra hours had their pay docked.
Apple promised to investigate the claims, and noted that if their investigation showed that workers hadn’t been compensated properly, they would require Pegatron to pay the workers in full.
