Although Apple cleared its Chinese contractors of gross labor violations, factory work is a miserable way to make a living, and the Chinese workers are still denied their most important liberty -- the right to organize... Apple's report is not a whitewash...but it's not an independent audit either... Apple's prompt investigation of contractors' labor practices is in stark contrast to Nike's stonewalling of sweatshop charges a decade ago... Apple has joined the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct Implementation Group, an oversight organization spearheaded by Hewlett-Packard [HP] that's been praised by watchdogs... Of course, the ban on unions isn't Apple's dictate, nor its contractors'. It's the Chinese government's.