Apple iPad maker gives China workers a raise.

The top maker of Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads, Foxconn Technology Group, whose factories are under scrutiny over laby practices, has raised wages of it Chinese workers by 16-25 percent from this month alone, this is the third raise since 2010.  In a statement on Friday, Taiwan-based Foxconn said the pay of a junior level worker in Shenzhen, southern China, had risen to 1,800 yuan ($290) per month and could be further raised above 2,200 ($350) yuan if the worker passed a technical exam. Three years ago, the average pay per month was 900 yuan which is equivalent to $143.

This announcement  comes after Apple criticized working conditions at its sprawling chain of suppliers in China. It was said this week that a U.S. non-profit labor group had begun an "unprecedented" inspection of working conditions at its main contract manufacturers. Working practices at Foxconn's huge plants in China came under intense scrutiny in 2010 after a series of suicides among young workers. Last June three workers died in an explosion at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, western China. 

Last month the New York Times published an investigation into working practices at Apple supplier's plants in China that documented poor health and safety conditions and long working hours. In response, Apple said the Washington D.C.-based Fair Labor Associated would monitor conditions at supplier plants beginning February 14. In an interview with Reuters on February 15, the FLA's president said that conditions at Apple supplier plants in China were far better than those at garment factories or other facilities elsewhere in the country. The last time Foxconn Group raised wages was June 2010, when the pay of its Chinese workers went up by over 30%.

Do you think its admirable that Apple recognized its inappropriate conditions and payment of its workers in China? Do you think they knew about it all along and are just played it off like it was a surprise to them?