apple, google, microsoft, dell, and tesla are being sued for using cobalt mined with child labor

[spartaman64]

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In the first lawsuit of its kind, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Dell, and Tesla are being sued on behalf of 14 Congolese families whose children were killed or permanently injured while illegally mining cobalt for electronics made by these companies.

Filed in United States District Court for the District of Columbia by human rights group International Rights Advocates, the federal class-action lawsuit alleges the companies "aided and abetted" a system of forced child labor and had "specific knowledge" of the conditions these children were working in but did not act to protect their profit margins.

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"Apple, Alphabet, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla all have specific policies claiming to prohibit child labour in their supply chains," said International Rights Advocates in the complaint. "Their failure to actually implement these policies to stop forced child labour in cobalt mining is an intentional act to avoid ending the windfall of getting cheap cobalt."

Cobalt is an important component of lithium-ion batteries that are used in many modern electronics. In the lawsuit, the families argue that their children were illegally working at cobalt mines owned by Glencore, the world's largest cobalt producer. Glencore then supplied cobalt to Umicore, a Belgian mining company and metals trader. Umicore then provided cobalt for lithium-ion batteries to Apple, Google, Tesla, and Dell. Also implicated is Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, a Chinese cobalt producer, which works with Apple, Dell, and Microsoft.

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By now, the relationship between cobalt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and child labor is well-trodden territory. Last year, the Democratic Republic of Congo produced between 60 and 70 percent of the world’s cobalt—a third of that was “artisanal” or subsistence mining, independently done outside formal employment with a mining company.

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In the complaint, the Congolese families go into vivid detail explaining how abject poverty made them desperate enough to work at the mines, paid as little as $2 a day for dangerous and demanding work in conditions.

In one instance, a child went to work in a Glencore-owned mine after his family could no longer afford his school fees. A tunnel collapsed on him and his body was never recovered, according to the lawsuit. Another child, who also worked in a Glencore-owned mine, fell into a mine but after being dragged out by other miners, was left alone until his parents found him. The accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. Others still say tunnel collapses killed their children, broke their spines, or maimed their limbs. None of them were compensated for deaths or injuries, the lawsuit said.

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The lawsuit is clear in its allegations that these companies knowingly entered into business with the mining firms despite knowledge of their child labor supply chains and is seeking damages for their forced labor

source: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bvg8n8/first-lawsuit-of-its-kind-accuses-big-tech-of-profiting-from-child-labor-in-cobalt-mines

 

I'm not sure if the companies could have avoided using that cobalt but if they could then shame on them for not doing so. Some people might say they are companies what do you expect they have to make a profit but I believe we shouldn't throw morals out the window and they can probably still make a profit without using essentially slave labor. This reminds me of past people arguing that they agree that slavery is wrong but the economy would collapse without it and just like how the economy didn't get destroyed then I believe that the companies can afford paying a bit more to give cobalt miners a fair wage or at least not a slave wage and not use child labor.

[kelvinhall05]

fuck anyone who uses child labour

[Suika]

Some of the wealthiest companies in the world aren't willing to pay a reasonable amount for raw materials and people in less developed nations are suffering for it, all to increase their bottom line to such an unreasonable point that there's no way they can spend their own wealth in a person's lifetime?

 

It's absolutely astonishing to me that real, living people can sign a deal knowing that they're going to kill children to save money.

[Arika]

to be fair i doubt any of these companies sent a representative to the cobalt mines in congo to actually check for child labour on a regular basis. If they didn't know there's plausable deniablity. if they did, then yeah fuck 'em

[mr moose]

And while we are holding them accountable don't forget we need to carry some burden for the small part we play ourselves, as we buy any device that uses these products we are adding to the demand thus providing the carrot.

[Zodiark1593]

There a reason UmiCore isn't being targeted for a suit as well, considering they directly trade in such materials? Or GlenCore for not upholding safety standards?

[spartaman64]

1 hour ago, Zodiark1593 said:

There a reason UmiCore isn't being targeted for a suit as well, considering they directly trade in such materials? Or GlenCore for not upholding safety standards?

probably glencore made sure they wont be held responsible and this lawsuit probably wont go anywhere either its just to publicize the issue

[Arika]

4 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

There a reason UmiCore isn't being targeted for a suit as well, considering they directly trade in such materials? Or GlenCore for not upholding safety standards?

Because the people creating the lawsuit want the most amount of money, they are far more likely to get a tech giant to settle than anyone else

[amdorintel]

4 hours ago, mr moose said:

And while we are holding them accountable don't forget we need to carry some burden for the small part we play ourselves, as we buy any device that uses these products we are adding to the demand thus providing the carrot.

now that is just too much to think of, most people dont care until it hits their wallet

[williamcll]

The sad thing is the companies will push the costs back to us if they source anything remotely ethic.
See: fairtrade foods.

[justpoet]

I'll point to this page from Apple's PR.  They've actually spoken out about these sorts of issues in the past, dropped suppliers because of it, and hired firms to go check to make sure stuff like this isn't happening.

https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/

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In 2018, Apple was awarded the Stop Slavery Award by the Thomson Reuters Foundation for leading the industry in eradicating forced labor.

 

…in case you want to read the actual data being reported to Apple, by who, when, etc...

https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2019_Progress_Report.pdf

Page 48 and on goes into a bit about mining suppliers, but here's the summary bits.

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In 2018, 100% of our identified tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold, and cobalt smelters and refiners participated in independent third-party audits for the third year in a row

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Our independent third-party audits go beyond conflict to consider human rights and other risks. Smelters and refiners are required to report, assess, and mitigate risks in their business practices based on the findings of their annual assessments. Additional third-party audits are conducted to verify the data reported and to ensure corrective actions are taken where gaps may exist.
We believe mapping and third party audits are not enough. We go further in our minerals due diligence programs which may include:
• Continuing to strengthen implementation of our strict Responsible Sourcing Standard
• Mapping Apple’s supply chain to the smelter and refiner level, and to the mine-site level to the extent available, by collecting and processing data provided by suppliers and other sources of information
• Mitigating and addressing risks identified in the minerals supply chain
• Seeking to empower independent voices around certain mining communities
• Expanding programming deeper in the supply chain to a number of mining communities in the DRC through rights awareness and vocational education
• Measuring human rights impacts of industry-wide minerals traceability programs
• Exploring traceability mechanisms using technology
• Engaging with industry organizations to share best practices and tools such as the Apple Risk Readiness Assessment tool
• Working collectively with civil society, industry, and government

So, while I can't speak to the other companies, and if they do similar or not, it'd be REALLY hard to pin this on Apple, even for the remote hope of a settlement.

[mr moose]

55 minutes ago, amdorintel said:

now that is just too much to think of, most people dont care until it hits their wallet

 

I genuinely believe if you could prove without shadow of a doubt that paying $10 more for your phone meant that no child was employed and workers were fairly paid then most people would be happy to pay it.   The problem we have nowadays is that you can't trust anyone and as such most people believe the extra cost just goes into the CEO's lambo fund. 

[mr moose]

27 minutes ago, justpoet said:

I'll point to this page from Apple's PR.  They've actually spoken out about these sorts of issues in the past, dropped suppliers because of it, and hired firms to go check to make sure stuff like this isn't happening.

https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/

 

…in case you want to read the actual data being reported to Apple, by who, when, etc...

https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2019_Progress_Report.pdf

Page 48 and on goes into a bit about mining suppliers, but here's the summary bits.

So, while I can't speak to the other companies, and if they do similar or not, it'd be REALLY hard to pin this on Apple, even for the remote hope of a settlement.

The problem with that is that there is plenty of articles and evidence that child workers are producing iphones etc.  suicides in foxconn are just one part of it.  How much apple can do about it and how much they know about  it are two different things and I dare say they know about it given the evidence and noise they are making to mitigate the bad PR from it.

[Lii]

I don't get it, probabily they simple buy the material from some other company/seller, dunno that they actually manage anything at all, and if so, it's not their concern/fault

[Guest]

3 hours ago, mr moose said:

 

I genuinely believe if you could prove without shadow of a doubt that paying $10 more for your phone meant that no child was employed and workers were fairly paid then most people would be happy to pay it.   The problem we have nowadays is that you can't trust anyone and as such most people believe the extra cost just goes into the CEO's lambo fund. 

The other problem is the political nature of the Congo. If more money goes would it help the families in the mines? I doubt it, the funds would probably stop at whatever corrupt regime is in the particular region. Quite often it is not simply a matter of paying more.

[Doobeedoo]

No Amazon hmm. 

[Commodus]

10 hours ago, mr moose said:

The problem with that is that there is plenty of articles and evidence that child workers are producing iphones etc.  suicides in foxconn are just one part of it.  How much apple can do about it and how much they know about  it are two different things and I dare say they know about it given the evidence and noise they are making to mitigate the bad PR from it.

Apple has long indicated that it wants to improve conditions, and to a degree has.  But there's only so much it can do when it's not the law of the land.  I suspect at this point it's hoping that automation will alleviate the problem by requiring fewer workers in the first place. 

 

(Also, for reference: the whole Foxconn suicide saga was at an Xbox plant)

[mr moose]

5 hours ago, Commodus said:

Apple has long indicated that it wants to improve conditions, and to a degree has.  But there's only so much it can do when it's not the law of the land.  I suspect at this point it's hoping that automation will alleviate the problem by requiring fewer workers in the first place. 

 

(Also, for reference: the whole Foxconn suicide saga was at an Xbox plant)

suicides were at iphone factory

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-life-death-forbidden-city-longhua-suicide-apple-iphone-brian-merchant-one-device-extract

 

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In 2010, Longhua (iphone plant) assembly-line workers began killing themselves. Worker after worker threw themselves off the towering dorm buildings, sometimes in broad daylight, in tragic displays of desperation – and in protest at the work conditions inside. There were 18 reported suicide attempts that year alone and 14 confirmed deaths. Twenty more workers were talked down by Foxconn officials.

 

Also some updates articles showing illegal working practices still being carried out at the end of last year, apple can't deny they know about it when they said they carried out extensive interviews with workers to stop it from happening.:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-09/apple-foxconn-broke-a-chinese-labor-law-for-iphone-production

 

The fact of the matter is that apple is just as bad as everyone else on this one, can;t deny it, can;t hide behind PR,   Maybe if they were as small as some of the other manufacturers we wouldn't have heard about it, but that is also a fact we can't ignore, they are large and their size plays a huge role in the problem.

[Commodus]

17 hours ago, mr moose said:

suicides were at iphone factory

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-life-death-forbidden-city-longhua-suicide-apple-iphone-brian-merchant-one-device-extract

 

 

Also some updates articles showing illegal working practices still being carried out at the end of last year, apple can't deny they know about it when they said they carried out extensive interviews with workers to stop it from happening.:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-09/apple-foxconn-broke-a-chinese-labor-law-for-iphone-production

 

The fact of the matter is that apple is just as bad as everyone else on this one, can;t deny it, can;t hide behind PR,   Maybe if they were as small as some of the other manufacturers we wouldn't have heard about it, but that is also a fact we can't ignore, they are large and their size plays a huge role in the problem.

We might both be right -- there were mass threats of suicide at an Xbox factory in 2012.

 

I agree that these problems are common for all companies.  My concern is that you don't really see many vendors beyond Apple making a point of publishing and publicly advertising reports on working conditions; some do, but you get the sense that many other electronics giants hope you just won't notice.  That and, let's face it, many people like to preserve a fantasy where Apple is the evil sweatshop operator and their favorite Android/Windows vendor is better.  If many people knew what Samsung has done (including trying to suppress media that discusses its labor conditions, some years ago), they'd turn pale.

[mr moose]

5 hours ago, Commodus said:

We might both be right -- there were mass threats of suicide at an Xbox factory in 2012.

 

I agree that these problems are common for all companies.  My concern is that you don't really see many vendors beyond Apple making a point of publishing and publicly advertising reports on working conditions; some do, but you get the sense that many other electronics giants hope you just won't notice.  That and, let's face it, many people like to preserve a fantasy where Apple is the evil sweatshop operator and their favorite Android/Windows vendor is better.  If many people knew what Samsung has done (including trying to suppress media that discusses its labor conditions, some years ago), they'd turn pale.

That's just media bias, apple is a big company therefore a big target,  MS don't make as much hardware in the same public sphere as apple.  I am pretty sure all major companies will have some sort of media release blowing hot air into he PR machine over the topic.

[Guest]

On 12/18/2019 at 11:35 PM, mr moose said:

And while we are holding them accountable don't forget we need to carry some burden for the small part we play ourselves, as we buy any device that uses these products we are adding to the demand thus providing the carrot.

One thing I forgot to bring up here, and something that seems to get buried by whoever, is the biggest user of cobalt. This article seems to place the blame firmly in the tech industry and in the batteries it uses. However, by far the biggest consumer of cobalt from the un-democratic republic of Congo is the fossil fuel industry. It is used in the refining of fuel to reduce sulphur. Worse still, in this use it is a one time hit, it is used up and cannot be recycled. At least with batteries it can be recovered and re-used. So why just the battery industry is targeted here we can only speculate.

 

On the plus side, almost all battery researchers are spending a huge amount of effort to find a better chemistry that does not use heavy metals. IBM have announced they have done just that and can make batteries by extracting elements from sea water. So maybe the only user of cobalt in a few years will be by the fossil fuel industry.

[mr moose]

1 minute ago, Phill104 said:

One thing I forgot to bring up here, and something that seems to get buried by whoever, is the biggest user of cobalt. This article seems to place the blame firmly in the tech industry and in the batteries it uses. However, by far the biggest consumer of cobalt from the un-democratic republic of Congo is the fossil fuel industry. It is used in the refining of fuel to reduce sulphur. Worse still, in this use it is a one time hit, it is used up and cannot be recycled. At least with batteries it can be recovered and re-used. So why just the battery industry is targeted here we can only speculate.

 

On the plus side, almost all battery researchers are spending a huge amount of effort to find a better chemistry that does not use heavy metals. IBM have announced they have done just that and can make batteries by extracting elements from sea water. So maybe the only user of cobalt in a few years will be by the fossil fuel industry.

 

I never really intended my comments to be directed at any one industry, it was more a call to remember that we are all a part of the bigger problem.  Even if our part is small or seems unavoidable,  there should always be thought for what we can do and what we can alter in that chain.

[Trik'Stari]

On 12/19/2019 at 12:26 AM, mr moose said:

 

I genuinely believe if you could prove without shadow of a doubt that paying $10 more for your phone meant that no child was employed and workers were fairly paid then most people would be happy to pay it.   The problem we have nowadays is that you can't trust anyone and as such most people believe the extra cost just goes into the Shareholder's lambo fund. 

Fixed that for you.

[yian88]

Thats just dumb, we should sue all ourselves for buying anything produced with child labour.

[LAwLz]

Seems weird that they are being sued directly when there are multiple companies before them in the supply chain. Shouldn't it be the company that hired the children that should be sued?