Consumer advocate Ralph Nader sent a letter to Apple Inc Chief
Executive Officer Tim Cook urging the company to reduce its spending on
share buybacks and use the money to raise wages, the Wall Street Journal
reported on Friday.
The five-time presidential candidate wrote in
a letter published by the paper that poverty wages and harmful
conditions are "a consequence of tolerating outrageous stock buybacks."
"'Designed by Apple in California' has a
nicer ring to it than 'assembled by workers paid about a dollar per
hour, working 11-hour shifts, and sleeping eight to a room in the Jabil
Circuit corporate dormitories in Wuxi, China'," wrote Nader in the
letter dated Oct. 23.
Apple is one of the top customers of contract electronics maker Jabil JBL.N.
Apple
declined to comment on Nader's letter, which echoes criticism from
labor activists and right groups. Nader's critique comes as billionaire
activist-investor Carl Icahn continues to urge the iPhone maker to buy
back more shares using its $133 billion cash pile.
(Also See: Apple Posts Strong Quarterly Results on iPhone Sales)
The iPhone maker has drawn fire in the past over practices at its manufacturing partners, most of which are based in China.
A
rash of suicides in 2010 at Foxconn, Apple's main manufacturer,
prompted widespread scrutiny in 2011 of working conditions across its
supply chain.
The iPhone maker has since stepped up audits of its
manufacturing partners and enlisted the services of the Washington-based
Fair Labor Association. The organization has conducted regular reviews
and reported on improvements in areas such as overtime and pay while
saying more could be done.
© Thomson Reuters 2014
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