The Beijing non-profit Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), released a report today that finds a lack of transparency in Apple operations in China, as well as lax worker health and safety and environmental standards. IPE and other groups surveyed workers at Apple's Chinese suppliers over a nine month period, and found that at least 49 workers had gotten sick due to conditions at Apple assembly plants. Apple drew fire last year after a wave of suicides at supplier Foxconn's plants. Apple said that they were not responsible for the suicides, and that Foxconn was "not a sweatshop." The IPE report ranked Apple last out of 29 tech companies in responsiveness and transparency.
See "Steve Jobs: Apple Supplier "Not A Sweatshop"", Gary Cassady, San Francisco Chronicle, January 19, 2011