Thursday 14 October 2010

Employee Survey Labels Gadget Maker Foxconn a ‘Prison’

"Workers at Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics maker famously known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhone, among other gadgets, used words like “prison” or “cage” to describe working conditions at the factory, according to a recent survey.

The workers quoted in the report complained about inhumane schedules requiring regular overtime work, stagnant wages and inflating dorm fees for factory beds, according to Global Post, who has been investigating Asian supply chains. The employee complaints were cited in surveys conducted by roughly 100 academics at China’s top universities.

“Under the labor and dormitory system, there is great physical, spiritual and spatial repression,” the report said when describing Foxconn’s prison-like working conditions. “An ordinary worker can easily be forced to the edge of collapse.”

Foxconn’s problems are symptomatic of a widespread issue in Asia, where gadget factories are notorious for committing labor violations, sometimes paying hourly wages of a dollar, firing people without notice and violently abusing employees.

Foxconn, however, has been under intense scrutiny in the media spotlight in light of a dozen employee suicides that have occurred at the factory this year. In response, Foxconn opened a tour of the factory to journalists and later promised it would work to improve working conditions by implementing wage hikes, among other changes.

However, the newest survey claims that these promises for improvements have yet to materialize.

In an e-mail response, Foxconn denied the allegations.

“Foxconn is certainly not perfect,” Foxconn said in an e-mail statement sent to The Register, “but we take our responsibility to our employees very seriously and we are committed to giving each and every one of our more than 937,000 employees in China a safe and positive working environment and compensation and benefits that are competitive with all of our industry peers.”

The Hong Kong-based organized Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, or SACOM, which helped conduct the investigation, said it was calling on manufacturers such as Apple, HP and Dell to take responsibility for the tragedy. The three companies said in May that they were in contact with Foxconn to examine the working conditions." Wired.com

60 comments:

  1. Doesn't surprise me in the least bit.

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  2. Aren't there lots of companies like that in Asia

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  3. i guess thats where they get their name from foxCONn. Treat employees like convicts :P

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  4. You know, I don't expect anything less from these jerkasses.

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  5. Foxconn is an OEM of a lot of major company like apple, asus and many more. they also have their own line of MoBo.

    a few months ago, there was a news about employee suicidse at foxconn. i think their employees are overworking but underpaid!

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  6. This is awesome, keep it up !

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  7. well duh, how else am i suppose to make money *rubs fat belly* ahahahahaha

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  8. that sucks but if we want to buy things cheap i guess someone has to do it

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  9. yup. China has never been good for the whole "moral' thing.

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  10. Isn't this the same company that put up nets to prevent employee suicide?

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  11. alot of factories are like that

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  12. suckish in the highest decree!

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  13. a dozen employee suicides probably not a good sign

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  14. Asians should be used to this kind of problem. granted its a bad one, but it's kind of what they're known for. haha.

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  15. a dozen suicides??? damn man, that sounds so wrong D:

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  16. damn... someone should check on apple i guess

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  17. i'd rather get shot in the nuts with a nail gun than work there.

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  18. I agree with the it saying that apple, acer, etc. need to force them to make things better. They could easily go elsewhere for there next gen. of appliances.

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  19. *electronics. Lol, you never know though.. I'd buy an apple brand toaster. :P

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  20. "dozen suicides at the company" :O

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  21. This really really really pisses me off. We in the west are always complaining about how expensive everything is, when really what's happening is all the money is going to the head honcho execs while the pennies are being paid to those who can easily be enslaved in the east. It's sad. Pathetic. Makes me angry.

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  22. wouldn't wanna work there :S

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  23. Not surprised at all. That's how they can't beat us in price of manufacturing.

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  24. I guess the best of things really do come from the worst of places.

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  25. And the productions are still expesnive. Much Love.

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  26. Those proles are just lucky they have jobs. Now get back to work.

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  27. It's no suprise this kind of things happen.

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  28. that must suck to have a working environment like that

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  29. Yeah, these conditions aren't changing until like 2 dozen more people commit suicide and you get an human right's organization behind it.

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  30. hahaha, poor workers, I wouldn't complain working in a place like that! XD

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  31. Ive heard about this sort of thing happening a lot in asia

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  32. well someone has to make all the crap we buy i guess

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  33. Not really surprised, this goes the same way with alot of the clothing we where.

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  34. yeah this was th place they had to install a net becasue so many people were jumping off the top of teh building. great labor relations right there. fuck fixing anythign we are just going to put in a net to catch you lol

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  35. Sounds a lot like apple...

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  36. Dude.. anybody working for a conglomerate is a slave to it's master.

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  37. I guess we know why Apple uses them then!

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  38. :( but I love their computer cases, I was happier ignorant.

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  39. thats terrible. Hope things work out soon =/

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  40. i heard something about nvidia partnering with foxcom for their next video cards or something

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  41. this is sad. whats a life worth living, if your not at least living? factory beds , GTFO. I would sooner be a pan handler and enjoy the freedoms.

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  42. capitalism sucks for some people

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  43. yea.. capitalism sucks for some of them :S

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  44. Can't say I'm suprised either. Is it wrong for me to just expect that's what it's like to work over there?

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