NEws. Know the scoop or have a lead? Contact the editor at news @theotherpress.ca Cheap labour for cheap iPhones ue New iPhone models produced in poor conditions By Aidan Mouellic, Staff Writer A new report from a ew York City-based independent safety auditing company alleges that workers at an Apple supplier Pegatron are being mistreated. The safety report tells of subpar working conditions in which production workers are working above the maximum 49 hours per week allowed— even above the 60-hour limit that Apple has put in place at its overseas suppliers factories. At the factories where the safety auditing company, China Labour Watch, visited, the average weekly working times per employee were between 66 and 69 hours. The working conditions were poor enough in the handful of Apple supplying factories overseas that when China Labour Watch took a look into employee-quitting rates, they discovered one factory had a two-week turnover rate of 80 out of 110 new hires. The safety probe also discovered that despite Apple insisting their suppliers hire fairly, many of the factories openly display posters of their hiring practices which detail how people froma variety of ethnic backgrounds, such as Tibetan or Uighur, were discriminated against Photo courtesy of The Verge employment. Documents also state that potential employees must be over 4’ 11” tall and must be younger than 35-years- old. The report details many safety and ethics violations, as well as photographs detailing how employees were forced to show their bags to security before leaving the factory and how exhausted workers were made to sleep on floors after their shifts. Low wages were also a point for concern. The entry- level pay for a production worker is $1.50 per hour, though the figure goes up for overtime to $2.27 per hour on weekdays. Since many of the workers cannot afford to live a distance from the factory, the factory provides accommodations at a reduced cost. Apple has responded to the report saying that “Our audit teams will return to Pegatron, RiTeng, and AVY for special inspections this week. If our audits find that workers have been underpaid or denied compensation for any time they’ve worked, we will require that Pegatron reimburse them in full. We will investigate these new claims thoroughly, ensure that corrective actions are taken where needed, and report any violations of our code of conduct. We will not tolerate deviations from our code.” Exclusion of pro-foreskin festivities causes stir By Patrick Vaillancourt, Contributor Vancouver Pride Society officials are coming under fire from pro-foreskin advocates because of a decision to exclude the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project (aka Foreskin Pride) from this year’s Vancouver Pride Parade. Glen Callender, founder of the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project and Foreskin Pride, says the exclusion was politically-motivated. Foreskin Pride has been featured in parades across Canada and was permitted to march in the Vancouver Pride parade in 2012, which featured Callender walking the streets pantless. Callender was initially notified by phone that Foreskin Pride’s application was rejected due to “space constraints,” but a written explanation of the 4 group’s rejection from the 2013 parade states that the rejection was due to violations of the VPS rules and regulations with respect to marching nude. Ray Lam, the manager of Vancouver Pride Society, maintains that Foreskin Pride has been excluded because of space but admits that group fron Lam said that VPS is simply following the law in excluding those who would march nude. The Canadian Criminal Code prohibits people from being nude in public, with the exception of nude beaches. The City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Department have both said that Police Department are pretty cool when it comes to stuff like that,” said Zonocco, referring to nudity in the parade. Callender, in a statement on his Facebook page, said that nudity should remain a “proud tradition at Pride events.” “Pride should always be about challenging sexual respression Foreskin Pride Founder Glen Callender plans to protest this years Vancouver Pride Parade because his group was excluded from this years festivities. Callender’s nude march in last year’s parade played a role in the decision. Callender argues that his plans to march simply with a black “I Love My Foreskin” T-shirt in last year’s parade were cleared with the parade director. In an interview with Xtra!, they are unaware of complaints being filed due to nudity in past Pride parades. A spokesperson for Vancouver City Hall, Vivianna Zonocco, said that the police would not likely intervene in cases of nudity at the Vancouver Pride parade. “T think the Vancouver and opening up respectability rather than clamping down on it,” Callender said. “Tf the city and the police are willing to tolerate harmless public nudity at Pride out of respect for our community, why in the world should Van Pride step solidly to the right of the city and the Vancouver Pride police and get their knickers in a knot of nudity?” Former VPS president John Boychuk seemed skeptical about the VPS rationale for excluding Foreskin Pride, saying in a telephone interview with The Other Press that while there are well-over 100 applications each year, it was uncommon for the group to reject anyone. “We never turned anybody down,” said Boychuk, who added that VPS would routinely make room for all applicants to participate in the parade. Foreskin Pride protested on the steps of Vancouver City Hall on July 29th, the day the city officially proclaimed Pride Awareness Week. They have nicknamed this year’s principal Pride festivities as the “Prude Parade.”