FT社評(píng)：iPhone中的血與汗

It took Nike nearly 15 years to clear the stain on its brand caused by revelations about its use of sweatshops in the developing world. Today, in light of subsequent scandals and tragedies, not only is there greater scrutiny of the global supply chains used by multinationals and wider consumer awareness of the pitfalls of outsourcing manufacturing. Technology has also made it easier to monitor where and under what conditions things are made. There should be fewer excuses therefore for unethical behaviour.

耐克(Nike)花了近15年時(shí)間才清除在發(fā)展中國家使用血汗工廠一事曝光給其品牌帶來的污點(diǎn)。如今，鑒于后續(xù)的一系列丑聞和悲劇，不僅跨國公司的全球供應(yīng)鏈被置于放大鏡下，消費(fèi)者也更清楚地意識(shí)到了制造外包存在的種種隱患。技術(shù)進(jìn)步還使得監(jiān)測貨品在何地以及何種條件下生產(chǎn)變得更加容易。因此，生產(chǎn)過程中存在不道德行為應(yīng)該更說不過去了。

Yet big companies continue running into trouble. A Financial Times investigation revealed this week that Apple iPhones were being manufactured at a plant in China where school interns were forced to work illegal overtime. This was not the most shocking instance of exploitation. It is nonetheless unacceptable that one of the richest companies in the history of companies, had not conducted more effective due diligence of its supply chain.

然而，還是有一家家大型企業(yè)出問題。本周，英國《金融時(shí)報(bào)》的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查曝光了為蘋果(Apple)生產(chǎn)iPhone的一家中國工廠強(qiáng)迫實(shí)習(xí)生違法加班。這并不是最令人發(fā)指的剝削事例，但它依然是不可接受的——蘋果是有史以來最有錢的公司之一，而它居然未對(duì)其供應(yīng)鏈進(jìn)行更有效的盡職調(diào)查。

Foxconn, the main supplier of iPhones had turned to cheap student labour to catch up with a rush of orders of Apple’s anniversary iPhone X. The company says it has now halted abuse at its Zhengzhou plant. But it should not have required bad publicity for them to do so. Increased demand is no excuse for condoning exploitation.

為了趕蘋果第十代iPhone X的大量訂單，iPhone主要供應(yīng)商富士康(Foxconn)利用了廉價(jià)學(xué)生勞動(dòng)力。富士康表示，其鄭州工廠已停止濫用學(xué)生勞動(dòng)力。但它本不應(yīng)該在被曝光后才進(jìn)行改正。需求增加并非縱容剝削的借口。

There are lessons in the Nike story. By 2005 the company became the first in its industry to publish a complete list of the factories it contracts with. It had also, in preceding years, conducted audits at 600 plants. These showed that abuses still occurred. But they also showed that the company was making an effort to end them.

耐克的經(jīng)歷提供了很多前車之鑒。2005年，耐克成為其所在行業(yè)首家公布完整簽約代工廠名單的企業(yè)。此前幾年，耐克還對(duì)600家代工廠進(jìn)行了審查。審查結(jié)果顯示，濫用勞動(dòng)力的行為仍在發(fā)生。但審查的開展也表明，該公司為終止這些行為做出了努力。

The sportswear company was obliged to introduce this level of transparency to detoxify a brand, which in the words of one former chief executive had become “synonymous with slave wages, forced overtime and arbitrary abuse”. There was no other way to halt the protests that were denting sales.

這家運(yùn)動(dòng)用品公司不得不引入這樣高的透明度為耐克品牌正名——用該公司一名前首席執(zhí)行官的話說，這一品牌已成為“奴隸工資、強(qiáng)迫加班和任意虐待的代名詞”。要阻止導(dǎo)致銷量下滑的抗議活動(dòng)，已經(jīng)別無他法。

To be fair to Apple, many Chinese factories have cleaned up their acts, although the practice of outsourcing to smaller “black factories”, when orders are too great to cope with, continues. These outfits come and go like flash floods — when opportunity arises. They go unmonitored and pay scant attention to workers’ rights.

為蘋果說句公道話，許多中國工廠已經(jīng)規(guī)范了自己的行為——盡管在訂單大到無法應(yīng)付的時(shí)候，外包給規(guī)模較小的“黑工廠”的做法仍在存在。當(dāng)機(jī)會(huì)出現(xiàn)時(shí)，這些“黑工廠”就會(huì)像山洪暴發(fā)一樣突然出現(xiàn)，完工后又消失不見。它們不受監(jiān)管，也漠視工人權(quán)利。

The bigger problems occur where manufacturing capacity has moved out of China, in particular to low-wage Bangladesh. They are also to be found where primary resources are mined. Nowhere is more troubling than the Democratic Republic of Congo.

更嚴(yán)重的問題出現(xiàn)在中國以外的地方，尤其是低工資的孟加拉國。還有就是出產(chǎn)主要資源的地方。問題最嚴(yán)重的是剛果民主共和國。

Prompted by a report from Amnesty International, the London Metal Exchange has launched an investigation into whether cobalt mined by child labourers is being traded on the exchange. Demand for cobalt has pushed prices up by 80 per cent this year and is only likely to increase as more electric cars take to the roads.

在大赦國際(Amnesty International)一份報(bào)告的推動(dòng)下，倫敦金屬交易所(LME)啟動(dòng)了一項(xiàng)針對(duì)該交易所交易的鈷是否由童工開采的調(diào)查。需求今年已將鈷價(jià)推漲了80%，且隨著更多的電動(dòng)車上路，鈷價(jià)只可能繼續(xù)上漲。

Congo, the epitome of a failed state, produces more than half the world’s supply. So, it is nigh on impossible to cut it out altogether. Besides, recent experience shows that often action designed in the developed world to ease western consumer consciences can have grave unintended consequences at source. This has been the case with efforts to halt the exploitation by Congolese militia of coltan, used in mobile phones. Hundreds of thousands of legitimate jobs in Congo have been lost as a result.

剛果這個(gè)典型的失敗國家出產(chǎn)了全球一半以上的鈷供應(yīng)。因此，完全封殺剛果幾乎是不可能的。此外，近來的經(jīng)驗(yàn)表明，發(fā)達(dá)國家為緩解西方消費(fèi)者良心不安而采取的行動(dòng)，通常會(huì)在產(chǎn)地國造成意想不到的嚴(yán)重不良后果。為阻止剛果境內(nèi)武裝組織開采鈳鉭鐵礦(制造手機(jī)所需的一種礦物)而進(jìn)行的努力就是如此——剛果國內(nèi)失去了成千上萬的合法工作。

Constraining whole industries is not necessarily the answer. Besides, most companies have the wherewithal to do a better job of policing their own supply chains. To paraphrase Amnesty, they should not need to be named and shamed before they act.

限制整個(gè)行業(yè)并非唯一的解決方式。此外，大多數(shù)公司都有能力更好地管理自己的供應(yīng)鏈。套用大赦國際的話來說，它們本不需要被點(diǎn)名羞辱才采取行動(dòng)。