对于苹果公司(Apple Inc.)来说，富士康电子公司(Foxconn Electronics Inc.)不仅是其于电子制造社群中最忠诚的合作伙伴之一，甚至还可作为其最佳的“代罪羔羊”！
也许你会说我对于这家全球最大的电子制造服务(EMS) 供货商过于严苛了，但请先想想近来两起事件的发展。首先，应苹果公司的邀请，美国公平劳动协会(Fair Labor Association；FLA)开始针对富士康在深圳和成都的厂房进行调查──苹果公司近来面对一连串舆论批评，指控其纵容制造伙伴于制造厂房中发生违反劳工权益的行为。苹果公司表示，这一稽查行动是“自发性的”，也就是说富士康公司欣然接受FLA工作人员在其制造厂房展开调查。
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“苹果公司的供货商已经承诺与FLA充分配合，让他们能毫无限制地进入厂房作业中展开调查，”苹果公司在宣布这项稽查行动开始时表示。苹果公司CEO库克(Tim Cook)是这么说的：
“我们相信，全世界的劳工均有权在一个安全且公平的环境下工作，这就是为什么要求FLA对我们最大供货商的表现展开独立评估之故。而无论就规模与范围来看，目前正进行中的这项调查都是电子产业中前所未见的。”
事实上，对于富士康欣然同意接受调查这一点，我并不能认同。我想很少有公司能够做到这一点吧！不管是多么毫无瑕疵的一条制造产线，认可这样的稽查行动都不可 避免地会带来一些问题。富士康显然是迫于压力下同意的。这是因为苹果是该公司迄今为止的最大客户，并曾力助于使其成为EMS排名之首，他们如何能拒绝苹果这样的要求呢？
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苹果公司必须设法转移劳工保护团体的抗议声浪以及媒体严密的质疑，这一调查行动及其结果刚好能够担保任何指责直接加诸于富士康公司。此外，富士康也可望进一步洗刷自己的声誉，并阻止各种想利用这一点来打击苹果公司的策略。
本文下一页：加薪不是万能的，但是不加薪…
本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载
相关阅读：
• 劳工协会：富士康的工作条件远优于中国工厂平均水平
• 符合人道标准的iPhone 5是痴人说梦
• 讲不出再见：当苹果赖上富士康Ztcesmc
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加薪不是万能的，但是不加薪…
另一方面，富士康公司在上周宣布，将自二月起为制造 iPhone 和 iPad 的中国工人们调高约16-25%的薪资。根据路透社报导，这已经是该公司自2010年以来在不到两年的时间内第三度调高薪资了。因此，基层员工的基本薪资将由三年前每月约900元人民币，调高到目前可能高达2,200人民币(约350美元)的薪资。
这样的加薪幅度实在令人难以置信，而且也可能是制造业中前所未有的。然而，富士康却还能在不将成本转嫁给苹果的情况下做到这一点的──特别是这一制造业务所能取得的利润极其微薄。这有可能是富士康过去对于苹果索价过高，要不然就是富士康现在能够在不影响投资人期待的情况下自行吸收额外的成本。无论是哪一种情况，都不可能让 iPhone 、 iPad 和 iPod 等终端产品销售价格增加来补偿多出来的成本开销。
而从另一个角度来看，不断地提高中国工人的薪水，而未见改善劳动环境与条件，这对于改善中国劳工的问题又能带来多少帮助呢？
我想回到本文一开始的问题。苹果和富士康采取了这些措施，就能够满足劳工权利组织等批评者的要求吗？不太可能的，因为这些行动并未受到任何期许──而且这一稽查行动发生的时间点以及FLA扮演的角色令人质疑等种种议题出现后，还可能让这些措施的成效大打折扣。
就在FLA开始调查富士康厂房的两天后，FLA总裁Auret van Heerden初步造访富士康后就对路透社记者表示这家EMS供货商的厂房设施是一流的，工作条件远高于其它产业的代工厂，因而引发一场批评风暴。
苹果公司的批评者们紧咬这一声明指称，苹果公司故意选择一家立场明显偏颇的组织来调查其供货商，同时，苹果公司就是FLA付费会员的身份也被质疑是在“粉饰太平”。接着，FLA总裁Auret van Heerden旋即改口表示，富士康深圳厂还“有许多问题”需要解决……
我想，苹果和富士康显然还得付出更多努力，才能让大家相信他们的行动是光明磊落的。
在接下来的编辑观点中，我还会密切观察并分析苹果公司的种种行动，及其对于电子产业、高科技OEM及其广大供应链所具有的意义，也欢迎读者们分享你的看法。
编译：Susan Hong
本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载
参考英文原文：Will Apple, Foxconn, & Sweeteners Satisfy Labor Activists?，by Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief
相关阅读：
• 劳工协会：富士康的工作条件远优于中国工厂平均水平
• 符合人道标准的iPhone 5是痴人说梦
• 讲不出再见：当苹果赖上富士康Ztcesmc
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Will Apple, Foxconn, & Sweeteners Satisfy Labor Activists?
Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief
Foxconn Electronics Inc. is either one of the most loyal corporate partners in the electronics manufacturing community or a patsy for its biggest customer, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)
Before you charge me with being too harsh on the world's No. 1 electronics manufacturing services provider, consider two recent developments. First, early this week, the Fair Labor Association began auditing Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, under instructions from Apple, which faces a barrage of accusations of condoning labor violations at plants that make its products. Apple said the audits were "voluntary." That implies Foxconn readily and willingly allowed FLA workers to turn the floodlights on its operations.
"Apple's suppliers have pledged full cooperation with the FLA, offering unrestricted access to their operations," Apple said when it announced the beginning of the inspections. CEO Tim Cook had this to say:
We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we’ve asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers. The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports.
I don't accept the notion that Foxconn cheerily invited the scrutiny. Few companies would ever do this. Granting such access inevitably turns up something, no matter how spotless a manufacturing facility might be. Foxconn agreed under pressure. Apple is by far its biggest customer and helped propel it to the top of the EMS rankings. The idea of turning down such a request from Apple is laughable. Apple needed to deflect complaints from workers' rights advocates and an intensely inquisitive press, and this move ensured that any blame would be placed squarely on Foxconn's doorstep.
That's the first evidence that Foxconn is willing to take a blow for Apple. But Foxconn is going further to burnish its own reputation and stop those who want to use it as a cudgel against Apple. Today, it announced that salaries for workers making iPhones and iPads in China will go up 16-25 percent starting in February. This will be the third hike in just under two years, according to a Reuters report. Junior-level worker salaries could rise to 2,200 yuan (about $350) per month from as low as 900 yuan three years ago.
Such a hike is incredible and probably unprecedented in manufacturing. Somehow, though, Foxconn is able to swing it without necessarily pushing the cost back to Apple in a business with extremely thin margins. Either Foxconn was overcharging Apple before, or it can now absorb the extra costs without disappointing investors. Whatever the case might be, iPhone, iPad, and iPod prices are unlikely to increase at a double-digit rate to offset the additional costs.
I want to return to the question at the top of this page. Will these steps taken by Apple and Foxconn satisfy their critics? Probably not, and this won't be because the actions are not commendable. They are. What may detract from the effectiveness of these moves are issues such as the timing and the controversial role the FLA is playing.
Two days after the FLA supposedly began its review of the Foxconn facilities, its president, Auret van Heerden, set off a firestorm of criticism by telling Reuters the EMS provider's plants are "first-class." Apple critics have seized on this statement to claim that it selected an organization already seen as partial to businesses to audit its suppliers. However one looks at it, Apple and Foxconn still have much to do to convince folks their operations are above board.
In a subsequent blog, I will write about what Apple's actions mean for other electronics and high-tech OEMs and their extended supply chain.
