[img=right]http://www.macfreak.nl/base/data/news/images/apple.jpg[/img]Recent hadden we eerst dit nieuwsbericht over Apple's keuze om te produceren in China en daarna schreven we er nog een keer over omdat The New York Times er ook een tweede artikel aan gewijd had.

Inmiddels heeft Apple's CEO Tim Cook gereageerd in de vorm van een brief aan de werknemers, waar hij onder andere refereert aan alle maatregelen die Apple recent heeft afgekondigd, en waar je hier op MacFreak ook al over kon lezen.

Hieronder de complete tekst van de brief van Tim Cook aan het personeel:

Team,

As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple's values today, and I'd like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don't care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It's not who we are.

For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers' manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren't as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.

Every year we inspect more factories, raising the bar for our partners and going deeper into the supply chain. As we reported earlier this month, we've made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers. We know of no one in our industry doing as much as we are, in as many places, touching as many people.

At the same time, no one has been more up front about the challenges we face. We are attacking problems aggressively with the help of the world's foremost authorities on safety, the environment, and fair labor. It would be easy to look for problems in fewer places and report prettier results, but those would not be the actions of a leader.

Earlier this month we opened our supply chain for independent evaluations by the Fair Labor Association. Apple was in a unique position to lead the industry by taking this step, and we did it without hesitation. This will lead to more frequent and more transparent reporting on our supply chain, which we welcome. These are the kinds of actions our customers expect from Apple, and we will take more of them in the future.

We are focused on educating workers about their rights, so they are empowered to speak up when they see unsafe conditions or unfair treatment. As you know, more than a million people have been trained by our program.

We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What we will not do - and never have done - is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain. On this you have my word. You can follow our progress at apple.com/supplierresponsibility.

To those within Apple who are tackling these issues every day, you have our thanks and admiration. Your work is significant and it is changing people's lives. We are all proud to work alongside you.

Tim

Mooie woorden, ik ben benieuwd naar de resultaten over -pak 'm beet- een jaar.

Oppervlakkig klinkt het prachtig, maar er wordt geen enkele concrete uitspraak gedaan over eisen, doelen en standaarden. Dat maakt de verklaring moeillijk controleerbaar.
Het stukje over 'wij zijn boos' komt op mij over als krokodilletranen.  Er zijn weinig bedrijven die zo schimmig doen over hun interne politiek als Apple. Dan kun je verwachten dat de publieke opinie vragen stelt. Vervolgens roepen dat je je beledigd voelt, vind ik niet bepaald professioneel.

Wat mij betreft kan deze verklaring zowel worden gezien als oprecht als window dressing.
We zullen zien...

Zoals bovenstaande Heren al aangaven is het geschreven stuk van Tim Cook weer kenmerkend voor multinationals die aan damagecontrol doen en eigenlijk maling hebben aan alles.

Als het aan mij ligt wordt Apple gewoon flink  aangepakt door de verantwoordelijke overheidsinstanties met mega-boetes.