June 7, 2012

The FLA’s investigation at three Foxconn factories was the largest investigation performed to date under the FLA’s new Sustainable Compliance Initiative (SCI) methodology. It resulted in a lengthy report detailing a range of problems at Foxconn’s factories and documenting corrective action commitments from Foxconn and Apple.

In general, the investigation confirmed that Apple’s supplier is violating numerous labour laws and FLA Code standards. Remediation plans agreed to by Foxconn are included in the report, and their implementation will be verified by the FLA.

A subsequent investigative report by Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) dated May 31, 2012, identifies continuing violations at Foxconn factories since the FLA investigation, some of which were also identified in the FLA report, and therefore should have been remediated, and others that were absent from the report and remediation plan.

Because the FLA’s investigation has been such a prominent part of the public discussion about Apple, Foxconn, and the rights of the workers making their products, it is important to review some of the key issues identified in the FLA report and to summarize outstanding questions and concerns that have been identified by SACOM. MSN's brief analysis is an effort to do that.

• Download MSN's "Analysis of Fair Labor Association (FLA) investigative report on labour practices in three Foxconn factories in China"