Apple To Oppose Formation Of Human Rights Committee

During Apple’s 2013 shareholder meeting, the company will discuss its future including whether or not to re-elect board members Tim Cook, Arthur Levinson, Al Gore, William Campbell, Millard Drexler, Robert Iger, Andrea Jung, and Ronald Sugar. However, the February 27 meeting will not discuss human rights.

According to a source close to the company, Apple executives will urge shareholders to vote against a measure that would institute a Human Right committee for the tech firm.

The human rights measure was proposed by stock owner John Harrington. The measure would create a separate board that would “review the implications of company policies, above and beyond matters of legal compliance, for the human rights of individuals in the US and worldwide.”

While Apple’s manufacturing partners such as Foxconn have been cited for hundreds of human rights violations, the current board of directors says it is “committed to the highest standards of social responsibility and human rights wherever we do business.”

Apple has worked to better conditions at some manufacturing plants; however, new reports have surfaced in which various parts suppliers have demanded longer working hours from employees without the benefit of overtime. In other cases, factories have avoided the implementation of safety measures and have even been known to use child labor.

With an outside committee reporting on human rights violations throughout Apple and its various global partners, the company would be forced to answer for its many human rights transgressions.

With Apple iPhone devices losing interest in recent surveys, the company is likely not going to part with its cheap labor, which helps drive revenue and ultimately profit.