Foxconn is not a sweatshop and in fact is probably one of the better mfg's in China. The solution is perfectly simple: make it illegal for employees to waive the legal limit of OT worked in a week. Obviously the employees are just working themselves to death (literally) so they can afford to live comfortably. It's not the working conditions of the factory that are the problems, it's the pathetically low minimum wage combined with excessive hours.
Well, yeah... that's kind of the natural progression. If people can't live up to minimum standards based on their legally allowed wage+OT, then minimum wage must go up.
But point being, simply increasing minimum wage is a knee jerk reaction that is a bit premature. Doing that can have an enormous trickle-down effect that could really mess up a local economy. And I'm not entirely convinced that these OT hours are "necessary" to live comfortably, or whether it's just necessary to buy an iPhone.
This argument of "increasing minimum wage will cause huge inflation" to the degree that it is used, is a tired, old argument that belongs in the dustbin next to intelligent design. It is true that at some point, when you increase minimum wage, inflation will be increased at a point that will either balance or negate the positive effect of increased wages. But the amount that needs to be increased for this negative effect to happen is MUCH larger than people actually think it is. The only way an increase in minimum wage would have a serious increase to inflation is if the cost of labor as a percentage of a sold item was already so high, but it has been proven time and time again that the cost of labor at a factory averages to less then 10% IN THE US, let alone what that number is in a Chinese factory.
@Bandigolo They can't, Foxconn contributes to about 1/5 of Shenzhen's annual export, so I doubt the government wants to get involved directly. They are launching a quite large media campaign against Foxconn though, state media is bashing Foxconn continuously now.
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Foxconn is not a sweatshop and in fact is probably one of the better mfg's in China. The solution is perfectly simple: make it illegal for employees to waive the legal limit of OT worked in a week. Obviously the employees are just working themselves to death (literally) so they can afford to live comfortably. It's not the working conditions of the factory that are the problems, it's the pathetically low minimum wage combined with excessive hours.
@Bandigolo
In which case manufacturers would keep paying their employees the same thing. What would need to happen is the minimum wage go up as well.
But tragic though it may be, 11 people out of eight hundred THOUSAND isn't that bad of a figure.
@BigJayDogg3
Well, yeah... that's kind of the natural progression. If people can't live up to minimum standards based on their legally allowed wage+OT, then minimum wage must go up.
@BigJayDogg3
But point being, simply increasing minimum wage is a knee jerk reaction that is a bit premature. Doing that can have an enormous trickle-down effect that could really mess up a local economy. And I'm not entirely convinced that these OT hours are "necessary" to live comfortably, or whether it's just necessary to buy an iPhone.
@Bandigolo
This argument of "increasing minimum wage will cause huge inflation" to the degree that it is used, is a tired, old argument that belongs in the dustbin next to intelligent design. It is true that at some point, when you increase minimum wage, inflation will be increased at a point that will either balance or negate the positive effect of increased wages. But the amount that needs to be increased for this negative effect to happen is MUCH larger than people actually think it is. The only way an increase in minimum wage would have a serious increase to inflation is if the cost of labor as a percentage of a sold item was already so high, but it has been proven time and time again that the cost of labor at a factory averages to less then 10% IN THE US, let alone what that number is in a Chinese factory.
@Bhima
I never said anything about inflation. But thanks for your totally unsubstantiated opinion.
@Bandigolo They can't, Foxconn contributes to about 1/5 of Shenzhen's annual export, so I doubt the government wants to get involved directly. They are launching a quite large media campaign against Foxconn though, state media is bashing Foxconn continuously now.