Dozens of workers in a provincial factory neighboring Shanghai, many of them hospitalized and under the threat of paralysis, are launching legal action against their employer, a parts supplier for United States electronics giant Apple Inc.

The ailing Jiangsu Province employees, allegedly exposed to a highly toxic cleaning chemical, have hired a team of lawyers to present their case for compensation against an iPhone touch-screen supplier, headquartered in Taiwan.

Forty-four employees of Wintek Corp in Suzhou have mounted the joint writ, Sina.com reported.

At least 62 of the factory's workers were hospitalized after they cleaned iPhone screens with the hydrocarbon n-hexane, which can cause nerve damage after prolonged exposure and - in the worst-case scenario - paralysis of the arms and legs.

The plant stopped using the toxic cleaner last August when a Suzhou hospital pinpointed the cause of the employees' illnesses.

The factory manager was blamed for ordering workers to use the faster-drying n-hexane instead of alcohol and has been dismissed.

However, a former middle-level Wintek executive indicated that Apple suggested using n-hexane as it was more cost-effective, the Economic Observer reported yesterday.

Another unnamed domestic Apple parts suppler revealed that the company suggested it use flammable or explosive chemicals in production.

Though the use of the chemicals in question complied with China's laws, suppliers usually had insufficient time to address safety issues because they had to meet strict Apple deadlines, the Beijing-based Economic Observer quoted the supplier as saying.

The appointment of supply-company executives needed approval from Apple, according to the newspaper.

Any executives who defied orders from head office faced instant dismissal, it said.

Parts suppliers also had to accept Apple's strict confidentiality rules.

For example, the world largest electronics manufacturer headed by Terry Gou, Foxconn Technology, based in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, has hundreds of security guards on duty daily.

Workers hired by Apple's suppliers or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were often paid minimum wages because of the American company's stringent cost controls, the newspaper said.

A source with Wintek told the newspaper that an OEM plant was paid US$4 for each US$499 iPhone on which the parent company earned a profit of more than US$200.

According to overseas market research firms iSuppli and Broadpoint AmTech, the profit rate for Samsung products is, on average, 10 percent, and for Nokia 8.9 percent.