A Very Good Reason Not To Buy The New iPhone

Shortly after taking over Apple in 2011, CEO Tim Cook promised to improve working conditions at overseas factories that make iPhones and other devices. But for the second time this summer, a watchdog group monitoring labor practices at these factories has released a report charging yet another iPhone factory of discriminatory hiring, unpaid overtime and poor living conditions for dormitory workers.

On Thursday, the New York-based nonprofit China Labor Watch said it found numerous labor violations at a U.S.-owned factory operating in the industrial city of Wuxi, China. The factory, owned by the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Jabil Circuit, is thought to be manufacturing the cheap, plastic backs to Apple's rumored new line of low-cost iPhones.

Apple told the Huffington Post that it conducted three audits of Jabil Wuxi over the past three years. The company said that while the factory has generally complied with Apple's standard of 60-hour workweeks and that Jabil has "an excellent track record of meeting Apple's high standards," it found that some factory employees worked more than six consecutive days without rest.

"Apple is committed to providing safe and fair working conditions throughout our supply chain," an Apple spokesperson said. We reached out to Jabil for comment and have not yet heard back.

Recently, it seemed like Apple had turned a corner on its overseas labor practices. After a string of high-profile suicides at Foxconn factories, Apple agreed to audit its contractors.