Undercover Chinese reporter exposes Foxconn working conditions (update: full English translation)
By Richard Lai 
posted May 19th 2010 3:12PM
posted May 19th 2010 3:12PM
Update: Thanks to Southern Weekend's exclusive permission, we've now published the full human translation of the Chinese report.
As the reporter found out, under such environment that keeps ticking throughout the night, stress quietly builds up inside you. Any illness -- be it physical or mental -- accumulated from over-working would simply worsen at a higher rate. Want to talk to a friend about it? Not so easy for newcomers, as it turns out many of the workers didn't actually know the names of their roommates -- we assume this is partly due to the different dialects and shifts, and partly due to the lack of room welcoming for newbies. It's far from the boarding schools that you know of in the West, and needless to say, it can be super tough for first-time migrants.
Since this article came to light, we've also seen reports saying Foxconn has now set up support lines, stress relief rooms, counseling classes, and ¥200 ($29) rewards for reporting a colleague's mood disorder. Will these help at all? Sure, but not with ridding the root of the problem -- experts say that taking CPI into consideration, modern factory workers are being paid way less than the first generation Chinese migrant workers in the 80s. We can't help but to think that Foxconn's $565m net profit in Q1 2010 can somewhat rectify this, and we urge its clients -- Apple, Dell, HP, Sony, Amazon, etc. -- to look into this matter once again.
Below are some highlights from the report:
"Foxconn only recruits people around the age of 20. In comparison, being just under 23 years old, I was quickly brought into Foxconn."
"Their most sumptuous day is the 10th each month -- pay day. That day, all the ATMs and themed restaurants are packed with long lines, and consequently the ATMs are often drawn empty. The salary's made up of the ¥900 ($132) local minimum wage and the variable overtime pay."
"Each employee would sign a 'voluntary overtime affidavit,' in order to waive the 36-hour legal limit on your monthly overtime hours. This isn't a bad thing, though, as many workers think that only factories that offer more overtime are 'good factories,' because 'without overtime, you can hardly make a living.'"
"When talking about their colleagues' suicidal jumps, there was often a surprisingly calm reaction, and sometimes even a banter would be made about it, as if they were all outsiders."
"If you ask the workers what their dream is, you'll often get the same answer: start a business, make money, get rich, and then you can do whatever you want. In the warehouse, they humorously name their hydraulic trolleys 'BMWs.' They, of course, would rather own actual BMWs, or at least 'BMW' kind of wealth."
"The employees work, walk and eat at this [factory machineries'] beat, so no wonder I was walking so fast, eating so quickly without anyone hurrying me, even though it didn't feel good. You're like a component that's entered the assembly line, just following the rhythm, belonging to that heartbeat at 4am, no way to escape."
"This super factory that holds some 400,000 people isn't the 'sweatshop' that most would imagine. It provides accommodation that reaches the scale of a medium-sized town, all smooth and orderly."
It sucks but what are you going to do? Yell at apple while you line up for Iphone 4g or any other company.
Customers want cheaper goods, Business wants more profit, and Countries don't want to lose to other countries with a abundance of cheap labor.
@phuz I agree with what you're saying, but you have to admit that Apple products aren't exactly the cheapest, in fact they're known to carry quite a price premium.
FWIW the bored workers expression reminds me of the typical DMV employee in the US.
Also, check out how US employees are treated in the food industry here....it's no better. We simply like to feel bad for other people and don't give a rats ass about American workers....I guess there must be some psychological explanation of that.
@jaffreywali I would rather work in the food industry in the USA over working in a factory in CHINA!!!
U cant compare these to mannnnnnnnnnnnnn
@ssgadget
Yeah, They blew it!
@ssgadget It reminds me of Upton Sinclair and the 1800's...
Foxconn is indeed doing something wrong. But do you guys really understand why they squeeze so hard from the poor labours?
It's because those manufacturing firms can hardly profit a penny from the supply chain! Firms like apple specifies everything in their contract: from quantity to supplier of the components, even the price!
Apple controls exactly how much it allows Foxconn to profit from assembling. It pushes the margin so hard that the only way to save cost for Foxconn is low wage and overtime hours without compensation.
I am not saying Foxconn is a good moral example. However, those in the upper industrial chain should also take serious responsibilities for this.
@TicToc
"It's because those manufacturing firms can hardly profit a penny from the supply chain!"
sadly the truth is, those employer ALWAYS find a way to earn maximum profit for THEMSELVES. You willing pay more to improve the worker's working condition? They took 9x% in their pocket. They just don't give a shit about their workers.
Welcome to the reality.
Dont they have jobs? Can't they work for someone else?
Makes me wonder though, how they managed to snap some of these pictures in the article? I thought they were super strict on photography at these Foxconn factories. Didn't an AP photographer almost get beaten and dragged into one of these places because he was taking pictures outside from across the street by their security officers?
But still...suicide? Odd. There must be some other psychological influence going on there. Just quit. What is keeping them from quitting?
@HektikLyfe
Probably that whole thing dealing with 'wanting to be able to afford to eat". Dunno though...
@HektikLyfe
Um, they need the money? Maybe they feel that they owe their families for paying to send them to the "Big City" to earn a living?
@ebon I understand what you guys are saying but how does suicide solve those problems? I don't think that is the case. Why not quit first then do it. No this is a message which is why I think they have even done it on site. I think they WANT people to find something out.
Fair trade agreements are for governments they hardly ever benefit the people they are supposedly protecting.
All governments seem to be putting corporations ahead of people.
It is really a travesty that most of the mega corporations hardly have consciences anymore. Governments have never had a good track record for anything so naturally they are included. You would occasionally find an owner or major stockholder who actually gave a shit. Now it is about the almighty dollar with shareholders and Ceo's out for only themselves. Governments protecting their own asses so the elected will survive. Really disgraceful.
I hope Apple users see that little Chinese girls face everytime they purchase a new shinny apple product, then realize a couple dozen ppl killed them selfs and bleed..so apple cant buy parts cheap..not the apple consumer..no they resell the 200$ pc with 5$ labor...for 1,000$.
@4ndr3W
Hope you see it next time you fire up your PS3, XBox360 or your Wii. You know, since Foxconn manufactured those as well...
@4ndr3W
Basically anything with a circuit board in it may have been made by a worker at Foxconn. Not saying Apple is the greatest company but there are plenty others. I'm pretty sure this Dell PC im using at work right now has some part made by some worker working for Foxconn.
@4ndr3W Not to mention Nvidia and AMD graphics cards. You don't have a discrete card? Well Foxconn makes Intel Motherboards. Don't have a computer? Flatpanel LCDs, LEDs, Plasmas have Foxconn parts. Don't have a TV? well Foxconn powers the equipment that runs our electricity and gas. You get the picture. It's hard to find almost any area that Foxconn doesn't have a hand in.
@ssgadget
A lot of people I know aren't happy at their jobs. If the minimum wage is that low, there's nothing they can do about it, except get a new job. You guys feel bad for the Chinese workers, but Americans making minimum wage are getting fucked as badly as these Chinese workers.
Go ahead and down rank me, idgaf.
So, what you're saying is, it's just like working at an American call center in the insurance industry.
At least the face on the woman in the photo looks exactly like mine did when I had that gig.
The real issue is not even the conditions of the factory or the people who run the factory. The real issue is the living conditions in the rural 3rd world areas of China that still have trouble getting running water, indoor plumbing and electricity. Its only because the conditions that most of these workers come from are so poor that even these factory working conditions seem to be a haven for them. I have visited some of these factories and not all of them are like Foxconns. Some companies actually support there workers well and although the pay is not great they do have better accommodations and amenities. The great majority of the workers are more then happy to escape from rural 3rd world living to some semblance of modern living.
Sure the media can focus on these factories but why don't the focus on how living conditions are in rural China.
If this was HP wouldn't we be calling out on HP and saying how evil American companies are? How come when it's a Taiwanese company you guys are blaming it all on China? Just curious.
@ashoro Foxconn is HP. HP and Foxconn have many joint investments and own most of the manufacturing plants together. Just look up their joint ventures. HP is the biggest investor in Foxconn. Most of Foxconn's manufacturing facilities are for HP. The only ties to Apple is that Foxconn has a contract with them to build a couple products, which happen to be pretty popular.
@viditbhargava
It's one thing to just criticize, and another to actually find a solution.
Not to play Devil's advocate here, but if you were to pay all the workers American wages, your iPhones would be insanely higher, and none of you would be happy about it.
Too much of the money goes towards the "Designed in California" and not enough goes to the "Assembled in China" part. Assembly should be at least matched in wages than design.
People can complain about how unfair this is, but they just sit on the cause. You can't keep Jobs' payroll without the cost of the people who actually do shit. It appears nothing has changed after the 19th century.
When the Chinese get higher wages at the cost of ours we complain about them stealing our jobs.
Hypocrites. Don't even pretend.
Boycot apple!! If you have proof of other manufacturers Doing the same show it so people may boycot them as well.
@Xing Don't you mean boycott all computer and electronic companies? I can't think of a single major company that doesn't use foxconn parts. I think maybe Fusion Garage's JooJoo might be free from foxconn, but I don't have proof. Even if something isn't made by Foxconn, it's most likely made by their subsidiaries or partner companies.
@The Missing Link Foxconn is a Taiwanese company....
I used to work for a company in the Philippines that had a factory like this. Each worker made less than 200 usd per month if they didn't do overtime. Guess what, they're actually quite happy that they've at least got a job; life would otherwise be mush harder without it. And refusing to buy isn't gonna solve anything, it only makes things worse. I've seen the company lay off so many employees because demand was low.. The laid off employees are actually worse off. They are more miserable than the ones that still have their 200 usd jobs.. =/
sound like the only way to help them is to buy less gadget....
and yet again not one of it's clients names in a tag!
Apple, Dell, HP, Sony, Amazon
I were a factory worker for 2 years. Sure it were in Sweden so my initial salary were quite good for someone with no experience or education. After 2 years my salary were that of people who have worked in industries for 20 years or so. I progressed really quickly, not only in salary but also in rank.
The work were really hard, I have to admit that. I even had to take 2 weeks off due to an injury because of all the lifting. Even tough I worked at an industry that really invests a lot of money into improving the ergonomics of the workplace there were still some heavy lifts. Sure I'm only talking about 20 pounds, but you would lift that 50 times in 8 hours, and that were only one of the many heavy lifts we did.
I worked at a line, so you had a specific time to do the things that needed to be done, and you did this over and over and over again. When I started my coworkers told me I've come to the group that does the hardest work at this industry, I lost 10 pounds in a month, and I got a lot stronger in that time to.
I'm not trying to compare these places. They are not related in any way. My work were hard and I'm glad I'm not doing this anymore, but at least I got a good salary, the ability to talk with my coworkers during work, breaks, vacation, sickdays and a lot more they will never hear off. I can't imagine working there, nor do I hope anyone ever should, not without the rights all men and women deserve. They are the one that should be making the money...
Foxconn do pay, officially, the minimum wage to these workers. There are two problems with this- enforcement of conditions is hard (corruption and lack of people on the ground to be checking on these companies as often as needs be), and the other is us.
If the Chinese government tomorrow raised minimum wages to a reasonable level, multinationals would move their operations somewhere cheaper. Nike has started to leave China, coincidently at the same time the Chinese government increased minimum wage.
Many of us do care about the conditions of workers who maek our products- is it an accident this is the second most commented on article right now? This is a good thing. But we need to translate this into some kind of action, but it must be coordinated international action. One country, China, doing this alone will not work. The Chinese government have a responsibility to keep people employed, and increasing wages will threaten that. All our governments are in very difficult situations.
As to the notion that 900rmb is a good salary in China... IN some sense yes. If the workers are young, and form the villages, its about 10 times what their parents make in dollars in a year, so its good. And some of this money would go back to those villages. But this is all comparing things form a very low base. If you look at wages as a generator of savings and security, these are not good enough.
I dont think the Chinese, or any of, would mind if the wages were low to keep a struggling factory open. But they are from companies who make increasing profits. The problem is they seek to maximise profit, not just make it. This is a huge problem.
People shouldn't say that the workers should feel good because their situations are better than those when they were farmers. China is progressing, so does the world. People always compares to others rather than to the past of him/herself like you do. Long day, working, no break, salary is just enough for living/to be not dead, day after day, and your brain simply can't think of anything. That creates no hope. Something has to be done. 400,000 workers, it is a city, a special society. You can't just treat it as a company. Apple, Foxconn and the Chinese government should bear the responsibility. Apple shouldn't say it is not their business, and they just want lowest price and quick stock. Apply implied that it is ok to pay them low and day after day overtime. What kind of civilization YOU represent? Foxconn, only think s money, thinking hire more workers or raise wages only harms their profit. Government only cares the tax that Foxconn paid. All should do something. Those are people's life. If no law can restrict it now, but where is the ethic?
... and now from our asian undercover reporter Tricia Takanawa.
Honestly - I couldn't give a fuck.