What mobile phones would you like to sell in your mobile store? A difficult choice. You can judge the phones by their appeal, you can base decisions on the prices, you can look at which company has the most trendy phones.

Another big trend within the electronics industry is the ambition to make ‘fair products’. Is this important for you? The aim of this endeavour is to make the industry more friendly for the workers in the factories and mines and more friendly for the environment. Some producers have started offering more ‘friendly products’. Teenagers are willing to pay 10% more for their phone when employees in developing countries are better paid!

Take a look at the film Thai hard drive (broadcasted by VARA, the Netherlands), to see what this is all about. Even though the film is about computer hard drives, the information is just as relevant for mobile telephones.

In 2007 a network of organisations in Europe created makeITfair. This new organisation examines the working conditions in the factories that deliver parts to the big electronics brand-name companies and monitors how the environment is treated. On the following pages you will learn more about what the people of this organisation have found out - starting at the beginning: in the mines where workers extract metals that are crucial for our gadgets to function.

Answer question 4 and 5 on your worksheet.

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