Catcher Technology Co (可成科技), one of the main metal casing suppliers of Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday denied allegations of exposing workers to a hazardous working environment at its Chinese plants.
“Catcher is highly committed to upholding environmental and workers’ protections. Our operations are conducted in accordance with Apple’s supplier code of conduct and have been consistently improving year-on-year,” the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The filing came after Bloomberg on Tuesday cited its interviews with Catcher workers and a report by New York-based non-governmental organization China Labor Watch alleging that Catcher is in breach of 14 of Apple’s supplier standards at its plants in Suqian City in Jiangsu Province, such as workers handling harmful chemicals sometimes without masks or proper gloves.
The organization’s report, which was made after a three-month investigation, said that workers at the Suqian complex have to stand for 10 hours a day in a hot environment making iPhone casings.
Bloomberg quoted workers as saying that earplugs and goggles are not always available when working in the noisy plant where they spray chemicals or metallic particles.
Catcher’s dormitories were also described as “debris-strewn” without showers or hot water, Bloomberg said.
Catcher said it took immediate action to conduct a thorough investigation into each allegation.
“Catcher complies with all regulations or supplier codes of conduct, and we have verified that none of the claims are accurate,” the company said in a statement.
The company said its dorms are in line with local standards and it plans to purchase a plot near its factory to build new dorms next year.
The Suqian subsidiary was last year awarded the Jiangsu Provincial Government’s “Green Enterprise of the Environmental Credit Evaluation” and was among a few companies to win the award, it said.
Apple said it has employees stationed at the complex, but it sent another team to look into the allegations made in the report, Bloomberg said.
The team found no evidence of violations of its standards after interviewing 150 workers, Apple said.
This is not the first time Catcher has been accused of maintaining a poor working environment.
The company was under scrutiny in 2013 and 2014 when Green America and China Labor Watch reported that workers in its plants were not paid for overtime and improperly handled harmful materials.
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