As Apple watches its profits decline for the first time in 13 years, tightening production costs are pushing iPhone factory workers to working longer hours for less pay, a new study reports. The report, released…by China Labor Watch, revealed worsening labor conditions at Pegatron, one of Apple's major iPhone factories…The factory implemented excessive overtime hours that spanned up to 90 additional hours per month, according to the report, and overall wage cuts from $1.85 to $1.60 per hour on Pegatron workers over the past year.

Apple…[had] responded [to criticisms in the past] by launching yearly audits to ensure factories are meeting specific standards, such as a weekly cap of 60 hours per worker. But China Labor Watch's latest report claims that these standards have not been met at Pegatron…on the heels of Apple's announcement of the iPhone 7 release…

In response to the report, Pegatron insisted that they have taken measures to ensure that workers do not exceed the 60-hour limit per week, including switching to electronic record monitoring. They claimed that their 60-hour workweek compliance was very high, around 95 percent, contrary to the excessive overtime claimed in the report. "We work hard to make sure every Pegatron facility provides a healthy work environment and allegations suggesting otherwise are simply not true," a Pegatron spokesman said in a statement.

Apple responded with claims that 97 percent of factories stick to no more than 60-hour workweeks and that factory wages have raised an average of 13 percent per year. "Our commitment to these issues will never waver and we have teams of Apple employees on the ground working with our suppliers to ensure we continuously raise standards and offer safe and healthy working conditions," Apple said in a statement.

But Li [China Labor Watch] insists that the pay-stub analysis and on-the-ground reports tell a different story…