Mike Daisey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2012

CONTACTS:
Blair FitzGibbon, (202) 503-6141 blair@fitzgibbonmedia.com
Brett Abrams, (516) 841-1105, brett@fitzgibbonmedia.com

APPLE CUSTOMERS TO DELIVER 250,000 PETITION SIGNATURES TO GRAND CENTRAL APPLE STORE IN GLOBAL ACTION AGAINST WORKER ABUSE

Apple users will deliver a quarter million petition signatures to Apple in global headquarters including Washington, DC, NYC, San Francisco, London, Sydney, and Bangalore

Petition campaign demands that Apple make iPhone 5 “ethical”

New York, NY – Concerned Apple customers will deliver more than a quarter million signatures from campaigns on Change.org and SumOfUs.org to Apple’s Grand Central Station, NYC location demanding the company respond to recent criticisms of worker abuse in their supplier factories and commit to creating an ethical iPhone 5.

When: Thursday, February 9, 10:00am ET

Where: Apple Store, Grand Central Station, 89 East 42nd Street New York, NY 10017

What: Local consumers will deliver more than 250,000 petition signatures to Apple, asking the company to develop a worker protection strategy in response to reported abuse in Chinese supplier factories.

Visuals: large iPhone posters, large amounts of printed handouts for delivery

Mark Shields, an Apple user from Washington, DC, launched his campaign on Change.org after learning about poor working conditions in the Chinese factories where many popular Apple products are manufactured, including the iPhone. His campaign has been featured in the Boston Globe, CNN International, Guardian, BBC, and other national publications.

“I have been a lifelong Apple customer and was shocked to learn of the abusive working conditions in many of Apple’s supplier factories,” said Mark Shields, who launched the campaign on Change.org. “At Foxconn, one of Apple’s biggest manufacturers, there is a history of suicides, abusive working conditions, and almost no pay. These working conditions are appalling, especially for Apple.”

More than 55,000 SumOfUs members have signed that organization’s petition already, making it the most viral petition since SumOfUs, a new global grassroots community of consumers fighting for corporate accountability, launched just over two months ago. More than 35,000 of the petition signers say they buy Apple products, including over 20,000 iPhone users.

"I use an iPhone myself,” said Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, executive director of SumOfUs. “I love it, but I don't love having to support sweatshops, and neither do millions of other Apple consumers.The hip, educated market that Apple aspires to corner is largely composed of responsible consumers who don’t want to be complicit in sweatshop labor.”

“Apple’s attention to detail is famous, and the only way they could fail to be aware of dozens of worker deaths, of child labor, of exposure to neurotoxins is through willful ignorance,” she added. “That’s why our members are asking Apple to clean up its supply chains in time to make the iPhone 5 its first ethically produced product.”

The petition delivery is being coordinated globally by concerned consumers. Petition deliveries will take place in Washington, DC, New York, San Fransisco, London, Sydney, and Bangalore, all asking Apple to improve its commitment to worker protection.

Live signature totals from Mark’s Change.org campaign:
http://www.change.org/petitions/apple-ceo-tim-cook-protect-workers-making-iphones-in-chinese-factories

Live signature totals from SumOfUs’s ethical iPhone campaign:
http://sumofus.org/campaigns/ethical-iphone/

Media coverage of the campaigns:
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2012/02/03/intv-apple-petition-shields.cnn
Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/petition-calls-for-ethical-iphone-5/2012/01/31/gIQAegnvfQ_story.html
Boston Globe: http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-01/business/31008171_1_apple-fans-apple-products-ipad
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16832106
Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/31/apple-criticism-griws-accidental-activists?fb=optOut

Journalists interested in contacting Apple Inc.’s public relations staff should try:
Apple Media Relations
media.help@apple.com
(408) 974-2042

Contact information for petition signers in your area can be arranged upon request:
Amanda Kloer
Organizing Director, Change.org
amanda@change.org
(202) 684 2552

For more information on Change.org, please visit:
http://www.change.org/about

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Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by one million new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.