和硕改进上海iPhone代工厂工作条件
With growing scrutiny on its iPhone manufacturing plant, Pegatron Corp. has been working to make changes this year to its Shanghai facility.
和硕联合科技股份有限公司(Pegatron co., , 简称：和硕)今年一直努力改进其上海iPhone代工厂，这家工厂现在正面临越来越多的审查。The Taiwan-based Apple Inc. supplier on Wednesday confirmed that four workers had died of illnesses recently at the Shanghai factory, but Pegatron and Apple said their investigations indicated that the deaths weren't linked to work conditions.
总部位于台湾的和硕是苹果公司(Apple Inc.)的供应商，该公司周三证实，其上海工厂的四名员工近期因病死亡。但和硕和苹果声称，调查表明员工死亡与工作条件无关。Even before the most recent wave of scrutiny, Pegatron has been making changes. Chief Financial Officer Charles Lin said Pegatron has built four new dormitories in Shanghai this year to ease crowding, with the number of workers in a dorm room dropping to 8-10 from 10-12. As the company's production ramped up this year, it had doubled its labor force in Shanghai to more than 100,000, resulting in cramped living conditions for workers.
在最近一轮审查开始前，和硕已经对上海工厂的工作条件做了改进。公司首席财务长林秋炭(Charles Lin)说，和硕今年在上海新建了四栋员工宿舍以缓解住宿条件拥挤的情况，建成后每间宿舍人数从10-12人降至8-10人。随着今年和硕产量的提高，其员工总数也增长了一倍，达到10万多人，导致宿舍拥挤不堪。
Because of the housing shortage, some workers also had to live off campus in housing that Pegatron rented, which resulted in a longer commute for them, Mr. Lin said. These workers moved back to the Pegatron campus after the new dorms were completed.
由于宿舍房间不够，一些工人不得不搬到公司在厂区外租赁的房屋中居住，导致上班路程变长。林秋炭说，这些员工在新宿舍建成后就搬回了厂区。Pegatron is also working to increase automation of particularly dangerous tasks, he said. Automation has long been viewed as too expensive for the assembly of highly customized and difficult-to-make products like iPhones. However, Apple's manufacturers like Pegatron and Foxconn have been investing in automation and are looking to let robots take over at least some of the more basic tasks.
他说，和硕还在努力提高危险工作的自动化水平。长期以来人们一直认为，将自动化技术应用于iPhone这样的高度定制化且难以制作的产品组装会过于昂贵。但和硕和富士康(Foxconn)等苹果公司的代工企业一直在投资自动化技术，希望机器人至少能在一些更加基础性的工作上取代工人。Apple has a team working with Pegatron to ensure its factory conditions meet the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's standards, said Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.
总部位于加州丘珀蒂诺的苹果公司发言人Carolyn Wu称，苹果公司的一支团队正在与和硕共同努力，以确保工厂条件达到苹果公司的标准。Pegatron is treading a familiar road. Foxconn has had to make sweeping changes at its factories in response to external scrutiny, which has been particularly close for suppliers of Apple, the world's most valuable company.
和硕正在步某些苹果代工商的后尘。苹果作为全世界最具价值的公司，其供应商一直处在外界尤为紧密的注视之下，其中富士康为了应对外界监督，不得不对其工厂进行了一番彻底的改进。Meanwhile, Apple has been advertising job openings for 'supplier responsibility' managers in recent months. The company has been diversifying its base of suppliers this year, making it increasingly complicated to oversee work conditions at all its suppliers.
与此同时，苹果公司近几个月一直在招聘“供应商责任”经理。该公司今年一直努力实现供应商的多元化，这使其更难监督所有供应商的工作条件。
