Rotten apples

As many of you will be aware, the Apple iPad had it world-wide launch this weekend. What you may not know is that the factory which produces it, in China, has been the scene of a dozen worker suicides in recent months. We've been asked by unions and NGOs in Hong Kong and Taiwan to launch a big international campaign to put pressure on the factory owners -- and on Apple -- to probe why this is happening, and to allow workers there to have real, independent unions that can bargain collectively.

Please take a moment to send off your message now:

www.labourstart.org/foxconn

It's been dubbed the "suicide express" by Chinese media. Twelve workers, all between 18 and 24 years old, have committed suicide, at the production facilities of Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwan-owned enterprise based in Shenzhen, southern China.