There is a lot of mis-information about Apple’s overseas manufacturing.
1. There are no “Apple” factories. Apple uses the same factories that companies like HP, Acer, Dell, etc use.
2. There is no child labor in factories used by Apple. It is part of their contract with manufacturers and there are regular inspections to insure compliance.
3. The suicide rate for these manufacturers is lower than the US suicide rate and even lower than the suicide rate in China in general. When you employee 300,000 people, 14 killing themselves over the course of the year is statistically low. The latest US suicide rate is 12.1 per 100,000.
4. Because of the lack of inexpensive, reliable transportation many of the workers live in the plant dorms. It is not a requirement, but it is convenient and cheaper than living elsewhere. They have swimming pools, internet cafes, fast food restaurants and retailers on the premises.
5. They work 40 hour weeks with overtime capped at 60 hours per month. They earn ~$2.50 an hour which is a bit above average for China.
It isn’t great. I wouldn’t want to work there, but it is hardly slave labor.
I think some posters are defining as "slave labor" anyone who doesn't get US wages and work conditions.
They can't seem to grasp that the cost of living is not the same everywhere in the world that it is here in the US. For example, in China an apartment in the city will rent for the equivalent of $125 a month. Staying in the dorm at FoxConn with Room and Board is about $70 per month. In town you pay for your own meals while away from work, but at work they're provided.
Now, working at a regular assembly line can get you up to $2.50 per hour, but an Apple line can pay up to $3.70 per hour. 12 hour day for the peak Apple worker makes $44.40 X 6 days = $266.40. $1065.60 plus $222 overtime = $1287.60. The regular worker can get $30 per day, $180 per week. $720 per month plus $150 overtime = $870.
Not bad pay for hard, long work, but the cost of living isn't bad. It's far better pay than shop clerks get. Minimum wage in China is about the equivalent of a little less than $1 an hour.
The Apple assembly line top pay, in relation to US $7.25 minimum wage would be the equivalent of about $28 an hour. . . if the job were here.