A small group of protesters showed up at the Apple Store in New York City's Grand Central Terminal on Thursday to deliver a petition containing 250,000 signatures demanding the tech giant improve working conditions at overseas manufacturing plants.
"Hopefully they will understand the magnitude of this petition," said Sarah Ryan, human rights organizer at Change.org, who handed the petition to a store manager.
Petitions were launched last month on the websites SumofUs.org and Change.org, calling for Apple to improve worker protections, increase transparency around the monitoring of its suppliers and make an "ethical" iPhone 5, amidst reports about deadly conditions at Chinese plants where iDevices are made.
The petition from SumofUs, which demands that Apple "overhaul the way its suppliers treat their workers," garnered more than 55,000 signatures. The petition on Change.org, which was posted by Mark Shields, an Apple user from Washington, DC, has received nearly 200,000 signatures.
"We are coming together as fans of Apple, who buy their products to say 'we want an ethical product, you are a leader in technology and we want you to be a leader in making ethical products for us to use,'" Shelby Knox, director of organizing at Change.org, said at the demonstration. "This is really a global movement of people who are fans of Apple saying, 'we want your company to be better.'"
In a statement sent to PCMag on Thursday, Apple said it conducted 229 audits at supplier factories around the world in 2011. Additionally, the company increases the number of factories it inspects each year.
"We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain," Apple said. "We insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever Apple products are made. Our suppliers must live up to these requirements if they want to keep doing business with Apple."
Simultaneous petition deliveries were expected Thursday at Apple Stores in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, London, Sydney, and Bangalore.
About seven representatives from Change.org showed up for the New York City demonstration, along with just a handful of other concerned customers. If Apple does not address such concerns, customers will increase pressure on the company and organize other protests, Knox said.
The petitions follow reports in The New York Times that shined the spotlight on harsh conditions at Apple's supplier facilities in China, which have driven workers to despair and suicide. Foxconn, one of Apple's largest suppliers, has come under fire time and again in recent years for such issues. At least 14 workers in Foxconn plants in the Chinese cities of Shenzen and Chengdu have committed suicide since early 2010.
"Instead of [Apple CEO] Tim Cook having reactions where he talks about how indignant and furious he is, but doesn't contest any of the facts in that New York Times feature, he'd be better served by taking an honest look at his supply chain," said protester Mike Daisey. "They are supposed to be a leader in the industry; they should be able to create change on the ground, immediately."
Concerns about Apple's manufacturing practices are not exclusive to the Cupertino company, however, several protesters acknowledged.
"That's why we are asking Apple to do this, because they are leaders and we really admire them," Knox said.
Michael Gsovski, an intern with the group China Labor Watch, who showed up in support of the protest, told PCMag that Apple has a "massive responsibility" to improve worker conditions at its supplier factories.
"Apple is one of the most profitable companies in America," Gsovski said. "It has a duty to people who make its products to provide them with more lucrative and humane working environments. Clearly, they have the margins to provide for them."
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 3:15pm Eastern with comment from Apple.