Over 1000 workers based in Shenzhen, China have gone on strike against their employer Jingmo Electronics Corporation (JEC), which supplies goods for companies such as Apple and IBM.

According to China Labor Watch (CLW), a New York-based watchdog for labor rights in China, and an advocate of ethical consumerism, "the motivation behind the strike was the factory's decision to make workers work nightly overtime."

CLW adds that the workers had been asked to work from 6pm to midnight and sometimes even up to 2am on top of the usual four to four and half day shifts from 7am to 11:30 or 1pm to 5pm. CLW adds "commonly worked anywhere from 100 to 200 hours of overtime a month," but the factory actually refused to let them put the hours in at the weekend because under Chinese labor law JEC would have had to double their wages.

After striking workers started, authorities had dispatched several hundred riot policemen to control them. CLW has called upon Apple and IBM to assume responsibility of for these works' dissatisfaction, and work with JEC to improve the working conditions within the factory.

Responding to the workers' strike, JEC has agreed to cut the average overtime hours, and resume operations soon.

People, wake up to this. Apple posts billions of dollars in profits, but uses cheap Chinese labor to get there. Why not open all of the factories in America, employing thousands upon thousands of American citizens who are out of work, and pay them great wages. Yes, Apple won't make as much money, but they'd be helping out the U.S. in a time of need, helping out its citizens also in a time of need, and would stop these crappy stories from making the news whose families are affected.

Failing that - step in and pay them up and way above what they're being paid now. Without them, you wouldn't be reading this on your iPhone, iPad and Mac-based system.