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Foxconn increases wages by 30 percent as deaths continue to mount
According to Reuters, Foxconn will be raising worker wages an additional 10% from the original 20% raise announced last week. Foxconn spokesman, Arthur Huang, said that the 30% base wage increase takes effect immediately. Foxconn admits that it hopes to earn the respect of its workers and raise efficiency with the pay increase while offsetting rising costs on the Chinese mainland. The company's shares fell by 2% following the announcement (in a market down just 0.4%, relatively), worried perhaps that the raise would erode operating profits. All this comes as more Foxconn deaths -- now at 12 -- are being reported. Family of Yan Li, a Foxconn engineer, claims that their son died of exhaustion after working non-stop for 34-hours, then returning for another 12-hours after a 10-hour break. Police have already ruled out suicide and homicide in the case. Nevertheless, Yan Li's family is demanding 250,000 yuan (about 25 times the worker's annual base salary) in compensation. Foxconn accepts no responsibility in the matter saying it would only pay out "humanitarian terms" to the family.
Foxconn raising wages, relocating 20 percent of Shenzhen workers closer to home (updated)
After a string of highly localized suicides at Foxconn's manufacturing campus captured the world's attention -- again -- the company has decided to increase worker wages by about 20 percent. Foxconn says that the pay raise had been planned for some time but did not say when it would be implemented. Mind you, a 20% bump in the third quarter is not unusual as Foxconn ramps up production for the holidays. In fact, Foxconn has given raises by as much as 50% in the past according to Vincent Chen, analyst at Yuanta Securities in Taipei. At the moment, Foxconn entry-level line workers are paid 900 yuan (about $131.80) per month -- remuneration that exceeds the local minimum wage in the area. And that's before bonuses and that oh-so tempting overtime pay are factored in. It's also worth noting that Foxconn is said by a factory worker surnamed Wang, to pay 100,000 yuan (about 10 times a worker's annual base salary) to families of suicide victims -- a sum he says has tempted some to their death. Update: CEO Terry Guo is being quoted as saying that Foxconn plans to relocate some facilities and about a fifth of its Shenzhen workforce (that's about 80,000 people based on the 400k estimates tossed around) to western parts of China so that the workers can be closer to their families. Meanwhile, Sony, Nokia, and Nintendo, all Foxconn customers, have joined Apple, Dell, and HP in expressing their public concern over the working conditions in Foxconn.
Rebellion accused of not paying dismissed employees
Something's apparently rotten at Rebellion. Not only was the dev forced to shutter its Derby office doors back in March, but those ex-employees seemingly aren't getting their deserved cash. Develop reports that numerous sources have come forward, claiming they've never received their promised salaries or redundancy pay. Sources tell Develop that a few of the employees had been working there "for nearly 20 years" and are due large compensation packages. An even worse reality, one source posits, could result in Rebellion filing for bankruptcy -- which would mean that anybody due compensation could very well never receive payment. Grim stuff, for sure. Rebellion's Derby office effectively closed its doors back in March. Founding brothers Jason and Chris Kingsley could not be reached for comment as they're currently traveling.
App Store payola, and what it means for the app ecosystem
Earlier this week, Wired posted a story about what they call "App Store Payola" -- the practice of sites that solicit cash payments (or other compensation) in order to expedite or publish app reviews. This isn't anything new. Ever since the App Store first went online, there have been sites that have offered developers a chance at the spotlight in return for behind-the-scenes payment. Apparently, it is still going on, and Wired's piece takes a good look at what's under the table. It should go without saying, but for the record: TUAW isn't involved in this practice, and never has been. We will use promo codes for reviews rather than buying the apps directly, but a promo code doesn't guarantee a review and it definitely doesn't influence our stated opinions on the products we cover. Informally, our editorial team gives a thumbs up to the OATS standard, although TUAW hasn't officially joined the sites promoting the 'code of conduct' for app reviews. Nevertheless, this is an interesting issue. My main question actually revolves around whether or not this practice actually "works" for the developer -- do devs who pay the $25, or whatever these "Reviews R Us" sites are charging, actually see returns in their product's sales or downloads?
LA Times examines SAG voice acting dispute
A recent LA Times article explores the "why" of the Screen Actors Guild's dispute with game publishers over pay for voice actors in video games. The main issue in the contract dispute is the "atmospheric" provision, which allows the client to use actors in 20 voice roles, up to 300 words, at the "daily base rate" of $800 for four hours of work. The article singles out 38-year-old Dave Wittenberg, who has done extensive video game work and earns about $30k a year. Amy Hennig, director of Uncharted 2, kind of lays out the feelings of many in the video game industry. She expresses that employees of studios may receive discretionary bonuses, but aren't "going to have a lot of sympathy for actors who want back-end residuals." She continues, "That's why we're talking two different languages when we sit down at a bargaining table." The SAG proposal seems to acquiesce on the contract the publishers want, but asks that actors who play "principal roles" (think Nolan North) who drive the narrative forward would receive the same fee for three characters and double if they do six to 10 voices in six hours. As actors become more important in the video game industry, expect this issue to grow. Optimistically, if actors begin receiving residuals, it may bleed into development -- a terrifying notion for publishers. [Via GamePolitics]
Chinese WoW wraps up closed beta, to start charging soon
It looks like the long saga of World of Warcraft's transfer of operatorship in China is almost finally over -- NetEase has announced that the closed beta period is done with, and that they're just about ready to open up normal registration and bring the game back to for-pay status. They're still pending government approval there, so they're not quite online and running yet, but they have closed off registration to new players, and will only bring it back online when they're ready to start charging yet again. Of course, their pay scheme there is different from here in the US and EU -- they often charge per hour to play rather than a constant monthly subscription. But however they decide to charge, NetEase seems sure that by the end of the month, things will finally be back to normal in China's version of Azeroth.Meanwhile, the former operator of the game, The9, has announced that they are extending by a month the option for former players to get refunds for their prepaid game cards. That option was originally planned to end on September 7th, but players of the game who have unused cards will have another 30 days to redeem them back for cash. All of this back-and-forth originally started back in April of this year, but it seems like, five months later, the game might finally be getting back to normal.
More than half of UK devs happy with pay
Develop's survey of 528 UK developers found the average salary on the islands to be £30,442 ($43,087). Although that's a few thousand pounds higher than the average annual salary in the UK, there appear to be significant differences in pay when compared to American counterparts.Not that it seemed to bother the majority of respondents, as 66 percent stated they were satisfied their salary covered the cost of living. Also interesting is that 67 percent stated their employer provided no training -- sink or swim, baby. Of those looking for a job, 26 percent said their motivation came from not being paid enough, while 50 percent said their boss reminded them of David Brent from The Office (not really). [Image]
Dear former Midway employee asking about unpaid wages, here's your answer:
Let's start off by assuring you that if you're a current or ex-employee of a company sending us information: A) We won't reveal your name if you ask to stay anonymous; and B) You really should leave a working return email address. As to the matter at hand, we have received a request for legal advice from an alleged former employee of Midway, who writes:"Those impacted by the recent lay off seem to have lost their PTO (earned vacation days). Class action law suit may be pending. Getting 2 months paid leave of absence was really nice, but that was required by law (the Mitchell Act) requiring 60 days notice for mass layoffs. After receiving a letter in the final week stating that the accrued PTO was NOT to be received in the final check, but in the following pay period, Midway declared Chapter 11 and evidently sent a subsequent letter stating that the PTO would not be paid at all. Evidently this is pretty common with bankruptcy. Is there a class-action lawsuit that people can join or should we all just file a claim in small claims court?"Lucky for you, we've got a talented lawyer (and LGJ columnist) on staff, Mark Methenitis. Read Mark's response after the break.
Poll: How much would you pay for an Amani War Bear?
We've covered the topic of an insane amount of money being paid for an Amani War Bear before, namely about 20,000g. Gold is much easier to come by now-a-days, and most people are finding it easier to amass a small fortune. This number of 20,000g for a bear mount isn't seeming all that far off.My guild is running two bear groups through Zul'Aman a few times a week, and many of us have our bear mounts now. Those that don't are going to get it quite soon. When this is done we have some different options. We can either run some of our alts and what not through and have a character in greens-galore with a bear mount, or we can sell one of the spots on our run.This selling thing has got me thinking. While our guild doesn't need any more money for repairs and such (we have plenty in the coffers), we can definitely all go to have a few thousand more gold individually. If we ran one person through on a run for 20,000g we'd each make 2,000g for doing 45 minutes of farm content. That's not too bad. %Poll-16453%
Niko's voice earned about $100,000 from GTA IV
The New York Times has an interesting piece this morning about how actor Michael Hollick earned about $100,000 for playing GTA IV protagonist Niko Bellic. Had the actor done the role for almost any other medium than video games, he would have received very generous residuals and royalties off the title, which made $500 million in its first week. The piece basically explores how all the actors in GTA IV would be rolling in dough had the work not been in video games.Of course, if the actor gets residuals, does the artist who "made" Niko get a cut? Although the actors provided voices, and apparently motion-capture, what about all the other people that worked on the creation of these characters? People aren't buying these games because of the actors, they're getting it because of the title and its associated gameplay. In time, this issue will probably come to a head (especially as the industry grows), but for now it comes off like actors whining while everyone else is getting a similarly bum deal. Maybe it's time the video game writers, artists and developers started complaining too? Union, union, union!
CTVglobemedia wants payment from cable and satellite providers
We've seen local broadcast stations get all up in arms over payments (or the lack thereof) from cable and satellite providers, and it seems that Canada's CTVglobemedia is doing just that. According to a new complaint filed with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, it's looking for "fair compensation" for carriage of its stations as audiences look for other outlets (read: internet) and advertising revenues sink. The media conglomerate even went so far as to say that it "wasn't right" that "cable companies pay nothing for its signal, yet charge their customers to watch local news and programming." Them's fightin' words there, and to be honest, it's got a fairly good point.
Free Radical implementing overtime pay ... seriously
The notion of paying overtime is absurd for many employees and observers in the gaming industry, but Free Radical (Haze) tells Develop magazine that they're looking to change perceptions of working in the industry by offering overtime pay to employees. Steve Ellis of Free Radical says the days of "bonuses that pay off your mortgage are long gone" and that they've "decided to start paying people for the work that they do -- even when that work is outside their normal hours."Ellis says that the industry as a whole will eventually go this way, but they prefer to do it sooner rather than later. Although there are so many companies who are guilty of not paying their employees for working extra hours, EA gets picked on more often than not because of the infamous EA Spouse saga. Of course EA's image has changed recently to become a great place to work according to Fortune Magazine. Now please pardon us while we check with our local priest to make sure there wasn't an update on Hell freezing over we missed.
Voice Pay enables secure vocal transactions
In the continual quest to make depleting your wallet entirely more convenient, Voice Pay's online payment system actually expects you to vocally confirm your next decrease in fundage. Dubbed the "world's first payment system interlinked with advanced voice biometric technologies," the system records and stores your "vocal fingerprint" so you can phone in a payment or purchase products on-site that support it. Of course, it's entirely likely that you'll be repeating all sorts of random numbers, passwords, and mother's maiden names in public in order to get that bill paid, but we're sure the hardcore yappers won't mind a bit.[Via Textually]
GSM Association gets everyone together for phone e-wallets
With services like NTT DoCoMo's FeliCa-based Osaifu-Keitai in Japan and Mifare deployed through much of Europe, perhaps one of the last great hurdles to widespread acceptance of phone-based e-wallets is a lack of standardization. Either that, or most people don't feel the need to pay for things by tapping their phone on various devices, but we digress; the point is that the GSM Association has now taken up the cause of getting everyone on the same page with its global "Pay-Buy Mobile" initiative. We really mean global, too -- among a slew of carriers, AT&T, NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone, and KTF are on board, representing the US, Japan, Europe, and South Korea, respectively, and the manufacturer camp counts Nokia, Samsung, and LG as its members. The first Pay-Buy Mobile trials are schedule to kick off this October, a schedule that is probably helped along by the availability of existing software and chips from Sony and NXP and the GSMA's pledge to build off financial institutions' existing NFC initiatives. We can't promise we'll use it -- but yeah, if it's secure, go ahead and build it into our phones, folks.[Via Phone Scoop]
Details emerge on Cingular's NFC plans
We'd previously noticed that Cingular was collaborating with Citigroup on some sort of mobile payment system in New York City, though details were pretty slim for the picking at the time; now the carrier has come out with full disclosure on exactly what it is they have up their sleeves. Like its Atlanta trial last year, the New York program involves Nokia handsets fitted with NFC (near-field communication) guts -- though for the sake of the trial participants, we hope Cingular is offering something a little more up-to-date than the lowly 3220 this time around. Unlike Atlanta, however, Cingular has switched up their financial partner from Chase / Visa to Citi / Mastercard, giving users the ability to use their phone for payment anywhere Mastercard's PayPass system is accepted. Parties involved expect the trial to last a total of three to six months, at which point we should all have a better perspective on how folks feel about shedding cash by tapping their cellphones against various surfaces. Of course, Japan seems to like it just fine -- so why not us?
