Nightline Offers Exclusive Inside Look into Foxconn Workers' Lives

Millions of iPhones have been sold to date, and yet, no outsider knows that how these devices are made. Not until now, but things are going to change - the secret is going to be revealed on Tuesday edition of NightLine, a show on ABC News.

The whole world will get to know how the iPad, the iPhone and the Macbook are really made and the storyline behind the scenes in the biggest Apple manufacturing factory in China - Foxconn.

Foxconn is one of the largest electronic products manufacturers, mainly working with Apple, Dell and HP; and it employs more than one million workers. The show Nightline will broadcast on Tuesday at 11:35 PM ET/PT featuring Bill Weir – the first reporter to get inside an Apple factory where he talks to workers and company executives, raising the curtains to give us a glimpse of how the devices of the world’s most secretive company are made. This show is the very first show of its kind that uncovers the truth behind the closed doors of Foxconn, which makes the so-called ‘revolutionary’ Apple gadgets.

The show is going to focus on the life of Foxconn workers, who are believed to be working continuously for hours in manufacturing and assembling the Apple devices. The hazardous working conditions – billed by some media as slavish and inhumane – had prompted several workers in 2010 to commit suicides by jumping off the roof of factory buildings. The spate of suicides had led Foxconn to install safety suicide nets all over the buildings within the Foxconn factory complex.

However, the death toll continues to grow and last year 4 workers were killed in an explosion in a Foxconn factory that was given the task of assembling the iPad. In spite of all these hurdles, thousands of new applicants are at the gates of Foxconn hoping to get a crack at a job that pays them under $1.5 per hour.

Apple also seems to have discarded its own policy on child labor. A 14-year old boy was reported to be working in the factory – he was assigned the task of cleaning iPhone screens.

This surely dismisses what Apple CEO Tim Cook said at a recent Goldman Sachs Conference, where he denied accusations that Apple turned a blind eye to the misery of workers who were employed by the tech giant’s manufacturing partners. Cook said that every worker works in a free environment and is given competitive wages. Foxconn also recently announced that it will raise the wages by 25% of select candidates.

Nonetheless, criticism is growing over the working environment at Foxconn and pressure is growing for on both Apple and Foxconn to refute the allegations. Human rights organizations, both in and outside China are protesting against Apple. Petitions are being filed to urge Foxconn to improve the working conditions and ensure workers’ safety.

(Reported by Johnny Wills, Edited by Surojit Chatterjee)