I guess the question then is should they have a legal obligation to the workers. Western companies make a big show of complying with regulations and higher standards of worker safety only to contract that work out to the lowest bidder, where in many cases that bid could not possibly be offered if they were actually treating their workers in the way the western company claims they are.

A recent example of this is exemplified in the practice of shipbreaking. Sellers can tell based on price exactly which type of shipbreaking yard their ship will end up[1], but will attempt to claim ignorance by using a series of middlemen to extract the most value, sending ships to places where people are forced to work in subhuman conditions[2].

[1] https://recyclinginternational.com/ferrous-metals/the-nether...

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/dec/02/c...

True, they might not have a legal obligation, but the court of public opinion should have way more influence on something like this. With their billions, they should have the means for oversight enforcement and inspections (including inspecting these companies financials since they're getting millions).

Unfortunately ... who's going to stop buying Apple products over things like this? Not many who don't already dislike Apple to begin with. It wouldn't make a dent.