After years of criticism and complaints, Apple finally requested the Fair Labor Association (FLA) to audit its assembly suppliers in China, including the notorious Foxconn Factories in Shenzhen and Chengdou.  The decision comes after weeks of heavy media and public inquiry over the labor practices at Foxconn. FLA President Auret van Heerden led the inspection today at a facility called Foxconn City in Shenzhen.

Moreover, a recent New York Times report speaks of the bad labor conditions in China, to which Apple was said to be turning a blind eye. There had been a number of accidents and employee suicides due to the poor working conditions at Foxconn. Naturally, Apple CEO Tim Cook expresses “outrage” over this, and pledged not to “turn a blind eye to the problem.”

“As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are. For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers’ manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren’t as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.”

Alarmingly, some of Apple’s former executives were anonymously collaborating with the media to criticize the company’s supply policies.  Apple has virtually full control over the supply chain, as they demand the perfect product with slim margins “because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice,” says one anonymous executive.

FLA plans for a quick turnaround of initial findings and recommendations on the matter, which they will post to their website sometime in early March. While Foxconn is the only company accused of onerous working environments, two of Apple’s other suppliers –Quanta and Pegatron –will be inspected in the spring as well.  By then, FLA would have already gone through 90 percent of Apple’s supplier facilities. However, the rather perplexing matter is whether or not Apple is going to drastically change anything should the situation call for reform.