Behind Your Business

The iPhone 5 isn't close to being released yet, but if the past is any guide, its production may be well under way. So, after a New York Times report about "labor in harsh conditions" at the Chengdu, China, plant that assembles Apple products, including iPhones and Pads, a global organization that calls for fair labor conditions is gathering an online petition calling for improvements.

"Every day, tens of millions of people will swipe the screens of their iPhones to unlock them," reads the petition by SumOfUs. "On the other side of the world, a young girl is also swiping those screens. In fact, every day, during her 12+ hour shifts, six days a week, she repetitively swipes tens of thousands of them. She spends those hours inhaling n-hexane, a potent neurotoxin used to clean iPhone glass, because it dries a few seconds faster than a safe alternative."

Heat's on Cook

While the group wants Apple to make all its products ethically, it says it chose this time for the petition because the iPhone 5, the first product to be launched by new CEO Tim Cook, is due later this year and "he can't afford for anything to go wrong."

The Times reported on explosions at the Chengdu plant attributed to aluminum dust, which killed four workers and injured 77. The group says it garnered 35,000 signatures in the first 24 hours but updated figures were not available. The Times report cited unnamed Apple sources saying the company could improve conditions if it wanted to.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. MSNBC.com reported that Cook sent an e-mail to employees in response to the Times story, saying, "We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain....Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is...

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