Cook says Apple cares for workers

Apple Inc has never turned "a blind eye" to the problems in its supply chain and any suggestion it does not care about the plight of workers is "patently false," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an e-mail to employees.

Cook was responding to a report in The New York Times about working conditions at Apple's main contract manufacturer, Foxconn, in China, an issue that for years has been a thorn in the company's side.

Protesters are also taking Apple to task for recent reports about inhumane working conditions at its Chinese suppliers in a growing number of online petitions. Mark Shields, based in Washington D.C., started the most popular petition to date, which has about 2,300 signatures.

Apple responded in the past by launching independent audits and publishing the results. Earlier this month, Apple for the first time published a list of all its main suppliers and agreed to let an outside agency monitor condition in the factories of its suppliers.

"What we will not do - and never have done - is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain," he said in the e-mail. "On this you have my word."

"Any suggestion that we don't care is patently false and offensive to us," Cook said.

The suicides at the plants associated with Apple cast a harsh spotlight on what critics dubbed a militaristic culture that pushed workers to the brink to meet unceasing demand for the company.