BEIJING (AP) — A labor rights group Monday accused a Chinesecompany that makes iPhones for
Apple Inc. of abuses includingwithholding employees’ pay and excessive working hours.ChinaLabor Watch
said it found violations of the law and of Apple’s pledgesabout working conditions at factories operated
by Pegatron Corp., aTaiwanese company.Conditions in Chinese factories that produceiPhones and other
popular Apple products have been under scrutinyfollowing complaints about labor and environmental
violations by adifferent supplier, Taiwan’s Foxconn, a unit of Hon Hai PrecisionIndustry Co.Apple said
in a statement it was "committed toproviding safe and fair working conditions" and would
investigate theclaims about Pegatron. The Taiwanese company’s chief executive, in aseparate statement,
also promised to investigate.China LaborWatch said its investigation covered two factories in Shanghai
and onein Suzhou, a nearby city, that employ a total of 70,000 people. It foundviolations including
discrimination against ethnic minorities andwomen, excessive work hours, poor living conditions, health
and safetyproblems and pollution.Pegatron assembles products including the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s and
iPhone 5 for Apple, according to the report.Applesaid it confirmed one accusation by China Labor Watch —
that identitycards of some workers were being held by management — and told Pegatronto stop.Apple has
published a code of conduct for its suppliersand joined the Fair Labor Association, a worker rights
monitoring group.The association inspected Foxconn factories early last year and said inAugust that
improvements it recommended were being carried out ahead ofschedule.Conditions in factories in China are
a sensitive issuefor foreign companies that outsource production of shoes, consumerelectronics and other
goods to local contractors.In its reportMonday, China Labor Watch said the majority of Pegatron
productionemployees worked 66 to 69 hours a week, far above China’s legal limit of49 hours. It said
pregnant women sometimes were required to work11-hour days, more than the eight-hour legal limit, and
employees werepressured to falsify time cards to conceal the violations.Thegroup accused Pegatron of
"discriminatory hiring practices" includingrefusing to hire those older than 35 or members of
China’s Hui, Tibetan,or Uighur ethnic minorities.The group said production line workers sometimes dump
water laced with hazardous chemicals from cutting tools into sewers.Apple,based in Cupertino,
California, said it would send auditors to threePegatron facilities this week to investigate the
report’s claims.Thecompany said it has conducted 15 comprehensive audits of Pegatronfacilities since
2007, including surprise audits in the past 18 months.It said the audits covered more than 130,000
employees."Apple iscommitted to providing safe and fair working conditions throughout oursupply
chain," the company statement said. "If our audits find thatworkers have been underpaid or
denied compensation for any time they’veworked, we will require that Pegatron reimburse them in
full."The company said its own audit found Pegatron employees making Apple products worked 46 hours
per week on average.Pegatron,founded in 2008, also manufactures desktop and notebook personalcomputers,
LCD televisions, broadband and wireless systems and otherproducts."We take these allegations very
seriously," saidPegatron CEO Jason Cheng in a statement. "We will investigate them fullyand
take immediate actions to correct any violations to Chinese laborlaws and our own code of
conduct."Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.