(Photo : Hong Kong activists in February Protested alleged labor-rights violations at Apple suppliers including Pegatron and Foxconn.European Pressphoto Agency)

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China Labor Watch has alleged labor violations to Pegatron Group, one of the suppliers of Apple. The cases include violations of excessive working hours, underage workers and other contract violations.

Apple and Pegtatron Group both expressed their concern saying that they would investigate all the allegations as soon as possible. Apple stated, "Apple is committed to providing safe and fair working conditions throughout our supply chain"

This is supported by the Pegatron chief executive, Jason Cheng, saying that the firm has considered the matter as a very serious case. He said that, ""We will investigate them fully and take immediate actions to correct any violations to Chinese labour laws and our own code of conduct."

"Pegatron sets very high standards for ourselves with our own dedicated team that audits and investigates issues,"

Apple also faced similar cases with one of their suppliers, Foxconn, in terms of violating the workers' rights.

Li Qian, the executive director of China Labor Watch said,  "our investigations have shown that labour conditions at Pegatron factories are even worse than those at Foxconn factories".

The campaign group investigated three factories of Pegatron and found out that an estimated time of weekly working hours are 66 hours, 67 hours and 69 hours respectively. Workers were pressed to sign a contract indicating that the overtime hours have less pay than the required amount. This resulted to workers leaving the company for within two eeks of work.

"Conditions at these factories are so poor that most workers refuse to continue working for long."

Apple said, "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."

Tagsapple protest, Pegatron and Foxconn