The highest ranking official in the Guangdong province of China has called for improved conditions for workers in light of the recent slew of suicides at Hon Hai Precision Manufacturing, also known as
Foxconn. Wang Yang, the provincial party secretary in the province where the suicides have taken place, said that the government must work together with the company to "take effective measures to prevent similar tragedies from happening again," While it's still not clear what is causing the deaths, Wang called for measures such as increasing sports and leisure activities for the workers, and improving communication between worker and employer. "Labor unions in private firms should be improved to facilitate
better working conditions and more harmonious relations between workers and employers," he said, speaking at a conference in Shenzhen on Saturday, just about one day after Foxconn announced it would
increase wages of workers up to 20 percent.
posted May 30th 2010 2:47PM
@Chaosdivine
because it says Apple on it. It's not any better than anything else but for all the show offs it's not about function it's about fashion. Look at me, I got an Apple.
Peace to foxconn workers, maybe one day you can go home after work not just sleep at the factory. Then have room & board taken out of your meager pittance.
@Chaosdivine
the reason I buy things made in china is because for most of those items, there is not a "made in usa" equivalent. And most you cant even find a "made without ubercheap labor" alternative. Please tell me where i can get something like this for...
50"plasma,
blu ray player,
computer,
game console,
stereo,
cell phone,
microwave,
automobile (they all have some component made overseas),
anyway, please submit. I would love to get usa made items, they just don't exist. Let china get unions, and some other developing nation will pick up the slack.
@bjbroderick
No you are 100% correct, I'm definitely not disputing that. It is incredibly difficult to NOT buy something without at least a part of it being built in China. I personally couldn't name something that isn't made there these days. In the "old days" made in America meant something - quality. People actively sought out American brands. It was nationalism in action. Now the Chinese own a HUGE part of your national debt and essentially own your ass too. The only way to end this is with a major shift in ideals (on a Government level). Ultimately people need to vote with their wallets by not buying their stuff. Like that's going to happen...
@Chaosdivine
The only thing I would add to your post would be a bit more generalization. That always makes for a better argument.
@bigcow05
What value did you add to this conversation? Are you the type that just likes to hear your own voice and interject nonsense to feel like you've participated? Judging by your nickname I somehow think I've got you pegged..
@Chaosdivine
The value I added was in pointing out that your post was inaccurate and that your "facts" were nothing more than incensed elitist blathering. The fact that you think ALL Chinese manufacturers make KIRF products, run "slave labor camps" (your words, not mine), and put toxic materials in their products make it hard to take you more seriously than the troll that you are. Now I'll ask you the same (rhetorical) question: what value has your response added to this conversation?
@bigcow05
Hey dipshit:
http://www.who-sucks.com/business/made-in-china-2007-danger-timeline
http://www.boston.com/business/gallery/china_watchlist/
If you have the brain capacity, you might want to go to Google and type in "dangerous chinese products" and see what comes up. There are over 3.7 million hits and I'm sure even you will be able to find something that you can comprehend with pretty pictures and small words.
If you actually READ TFA or watched the news at all, you've had a good example of their work camps and slave labor practices...you DO pay attention to current events don't you?
If you need examples of KIRF products, you've obviously not spent much time on Engadget and should hand in your nerd pass...
kisses...
Does nobody bother to mention that the Foxconn suicide rate is actually lower than the average Chinese suicide rate? This is such a nonstory.
@Matt l
Official numbers in China are generally unreliable at best, but you're right; the suicide rate is quite low by almost any standard, including what is probably the national average.
@Matt l Have to agree with you!!
@Matt l
nice try but get your facts straight, here's wishing your kids get employed by such a stellar emloyer!
The suicide rate is actually double the national average. Second if you break it down by age group involved it's more than 4 times the average.
One death is too many if it is for anything as trivial as consumer electronics unless it's yours then it's just a statistic.
@Matt l
Check out countries with higher suicide rates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate
Although China is still pretty high at 26th, at least it's got the best gender equality out of them. Each country probably has a different main cause for suicide. It's probably like work stress in Japan, and depression from lack of work in France (as in too much free time)...
@Xing
"One death is too many if it is for anything as trivial as consumer electronics unless it's yours then it's just a statistic."
? Wai... what? You think their deaths have ANYTHING to do with technology? FoxConn pays big money to anyone that dies (compensation, life insurance, however you wanna frame it). The Chinese working at these factories are doing it so they can send money back to their families, and have selflessly decided to commit suicide knowing FoxConn will pay their families. It's heartbreaking that they actually do this kind of thing, but if you think it has ANYTHING to do with Apple or Dell, you're totally missing the point of the story, and completely misunderstand the motivations of the factory workers.
@onlymyrailgun
[qoute]"The total rate of suicides is based on the total number of suicides divided by the total population"[/quote] ... consider the billions of people in china, it may be number 26 but that racks up to hundreds of thousands of deaths, most might not even be accounted for...
@nicolasgoddone
Yep, in fact somewhere it says that India, China and Japan account for 40% of all suicide deaths.
Honestly, with a name like Foxconn, how can anyone be surprised that they're evil. FoxHound, anyone?
All I can say is, this is an Americanized Globalization...
The Americans just don't get it...
I guess they just can't put things in perspective... this is far from the same thing like blood diamonds and cocoa beans...
Foxconn workers are the best paid and best treated as low wage / low educated workers in China.
Have you been to China and see what it's really like in the factories? And then you compare Foxconn and the others, Foxconn is like working in heaven.
Oh, and for those who want to stop buying Foxconn products. You can not buy the iPhone, iPod, iPad, all Macs, Wii, PS3, xbox360, motorola phones, Amazon kindle, Sony VAIOs, Dell computers, HP computers, Intel motherboards, and you know what, just don't buy any computerized electronics....
@hh83917
I'm curious why you associate this specifically with Americans. Surely you don't think Americans have a monopoly on ignorance?
@hh83917 thats what a lot of us are saying. It's not Foxconn, it's the oppression from the government that causes most problems and suicides.
@BubbaJ
He certainly broke that monopoly, should it exist.
@hh83917
Actually I don't own any of those things lol
A couple of the works that tried to commit suicide failed. So here's a thought, why not ask them why they did it. I don't buy they don't have a clue. And if the CEO is that concerned, maybe he should trying working and living in that plant for a month on their pay. Maybe he'll figure it out then.
@Synergi
workers* sorry for typos.
I already know whats causing it. I've been scientific, I've identified the rules, designed the experiment, made careful observations and measurements, interpreted the experimental pattern. It's the iPhones. They react to human stimulus. They're tired of our abuse, and they've evolved to wipe us out.
Moving to Vietnam.
Funny that china actually has pretty decent laws to protect worker rights compared to other nations in the region. The main issue is that they're not beinh enforced. Or in a single word: corruption.
Wang Yang, Dong Schlong, Hu Flung Pu...
@DoctarPeppar
... keep laughing. One day you're gonna wish you were studying Mandarin...
Wesscoast
From Shanghai
Lol, if not for foxconn's employee suiciding, I bet the chinese government won't even care. Just because foxconn is so high-profile and one of the leading factories in china, now they have to actually do something
@allenade
Yeah. You know... Cuz there's no free press in China. Big companies tend to keep this kinda thing under wraps.
Kinda like how Michael Moore tried to expose all pain/suffering/death caused by the Insurance companies in that movie Sicko?
Well, we can all expect prices of goods made in China to go up soon...
now only if the entire country did what Wang did here then 50% of the world's population would be just a little bit happier.
"While it's still not clear what is causing the deaths," No, the reason is 10 yrs worth of wages for the families. I hate to sound very insensitive, but it's morbid economy at work - stop compensating for these suicides (or at least decrease the amount) and people will have less reason to jump off of buildings. That policy is at the heart of the problem, and these people shouldn't die for any amount of money - give them none.
*The* Jimmy Wang Yang from the WWE?
Makes me wonder if this is just a iron curtain to make it seem like the Chinese government actually cares to do something.
Should be enough for anyone to boycott Apple - like they didn't know.
I'm not sure if this has been said before but the first time i read the first sentence, i read: "The highest ranking official in the Guangdong province of China has called for improved conditions for workers in light of the recent slew of suicides at Hon Hai Prison Manufacturing, also known as Foxconn."
see my mind saw, China, shitty conditions, suicides, and assumed we were talking about a Prison. Is it? See what i did there dropping the ec and i. scary