Reports about the treatment of workers at Apple Inc. (AAPL) Supplier factories in other countries surfaced on Thursday, revealing that the companies ignored many issues with their workers, many cases which led to suicide in a Foxconn factory. On Friday, AAPL CEO Tim Cook responded to the reports, suggesting that Apple takes any and all employee issues seriously and is now investigating and addressing any issues or concerns. 9to5Mac reported Tim Cook’s reponse on Apple’s efforts to oversee compliance with company standards for workers’ rights.

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.

Cook also goes on to thank employees who are focusing and helping with these issues and that Apple is taking this very seriously and will continue to increase its efforts.

We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain. On this you have my word.

The New York Times has also gathered statements from Chinese readers, who suggest that this issue is not specific to Apple and is rather a widespread issue, which should be addressed with governmental regulations. This issue appears to be very prevalent in manufacturing factories, such as Apple’s Foxconn supplier and many other companies who outsource manufacturing.

{via Mac Rumors}