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May 24, 2010
Foxconn denies death link

TAIPEI - THE founder of Taiwan's Foxconn Group on Monday broke his silence over a string of suicides by its employees in China, denying the deaths were related to conditions at the technology giant's factories. 'I want to say that we're not running blood and sweat factories,' Terry Gou said in the wake of state media reports in China that nine Foxconn workers had seemingly jumped to their deaths since the start of the year. Foxconn, known in Taiwan by the name of its parent Hon Hai Precision, is the world's largest maker of computer components. It also makes iPhones for Apple.

The deaths have highlighted concerns about the difficult conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially those at Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, minimal pay and significant pressure are the norm. 'You know, Hon Hai has more than 800,000 workers worldwide, and it's not easy to manage such a large team,' Mr Gou replied when asked to comment on the suicides. Mr Gou, who was attending an event in Taipei to welcome a Chinese procurement delegation, added: 'I'm confident things will become stabilised soon.'

He did not say what measures had been taken, but the company said on May 17 that it had hired Buddhist monks and 100 counsellors for its workers at plants in China, as well as setting up hotlines to provide emotional support. Despite the measures, only days later a 21-year-old employee jumped to his death in southern China, state media there said. According to the China Labour Bulletin (CLB), a workers' rights group based in Hong Kong, the Foxconn suicides underline the pressure faced by young workers in China who must labour for long hours far away from their families. -- AFP

[Tryphadz]

Another Foxconn employee dies in China
Posted: 25 May 2010 1048 hrs
Photos 1 of 1
Foxconn


BEIJING : A 19-year-old employee of Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn died Tuesday after falling from a building at the company's plant in southern China -- the 10th such death this year, state media reported. The deaths, which are apparent suicides, have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm.

But the group's founder Terry Gou on Monday denied that Foxconn's employees were being worked too hard and driven to kill themselves, saying he was not running "blood and sweat factories". Foxconn, known in Taiwan by the name of its parent Hon Hai Precision, is the world's largest maker of computer components. It also makes iPhones for Apple.

China's state Xinhua news agency said it was not immediately known whether the latest Foxconn fatality -- the second in less than a week -- was a man or a woman. It was the ninth death at Foxconn's Shenzhen facilities this year. Another company employee died at a plant in northern China in January, according to state media reports. Two more have suffered serious injuries in similar falls.

Officials at Foxconn -- whose clients include Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard -- did not have an immediate comment on the report. Gou said Monday he was "confident things will become stabilised soon." The company employs 800,000 people worldwide, with more than 300,000 in Shenzhen, a special economic zone on the border with Hong Kong.

In July, a Foxconn worker committed suicide when the company held an inquiry into the disappearance of an iPhone prototype, for which the employee had been considered responsible. Foxconn has hired Buddhist monks and psychological counselors for its workers in China. - AFP/jy

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May 26, 2010
Apple watching Foxconn



The deaths have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, low pay and high psychological pressure are the norm. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

HONG KONG - APPLE said on Wednesday it was evaluating steps by Foxconn, manufacturer of many of its products including the iPhone, to prevent further suicides at an assembly plant in southern China. Apple, which is preparing to launch its iPad computer tablet in countries outside the United States on Friday, said it was committed to making sure workers in its supply chain were safe and treated with respect.

A 19-year-old employee fell to his death at Foxconn's Shenzhen factory on Tuesday - the ninth apparent suicide at the enormous site this year.
'We are saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn,' an Apple spokeswoman told AFP by email. 'Apple is deeply committed to ensuring that conditions throughout our supply chain are safe and workers are treated with respect and dignity,' she said.

'We are in direct contact with Foxconn senior management and we believe they are taking this matter very seriously. A team from Apple is independently evaluating the steps they are taking to address these tragic events and we will continue our ongoing inspections of the facilities where our products are made.' Apple refused to confirm if the new iPad was being made at the plant. Foxconn, a Taiwanese company, also boasts Dell and Hewlett-Packard among its clients.

The deaths have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, low pay and high psychological pressure are the norm. Incensed by the suicides, labour activists in Hong Kong are calling for a global boycott of the next generation of the iPhone, which Apple is expected to unveil next month. -- AFP

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May 26, 2010
Hon Hai in damage control

LONGHUA (China) - DRESSED in white, the traditional colour of mourning in China, the father of 19-year-old Ma Xiangqian weeps outside the gates of a sprawling electronics complex. His wife and daughter kneel alongside. Ma is one of nine workers who have died in apparent suicides at tightly guarded factory complexes this year, raising questions about the harsher aspects of blue-collar life around southern China's Pearl River Delta - dubbed the workshop to the world.

The parents say Ma, who was found dead at the bottom of a stairway at the campus in January, died under mysterious circumstances. They want to know why. 'All we want to know is the truth. We don't even want compensation,' said the father. The Longhua factory belongs to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, the Taiwan giant that is contracted to make electronics for Apple Inc and most major PC brands.

Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou, one of Taiwan's best known businessmen, on Wednesday led reporters on a rare media tour of the Chinese plant, part of an unprecedented publicity blitz to counter a growing backlash over the suicides. 'You can see we've got these facilities for workers who want to relax,' Mr Gou said, standing by an Olympic-size swimming pool in the vast Longhua complex, which has tree-lined avenues, post offices, banks and bakeries catering to many of around 400,000 workers it employs in southern China. This is not a place that treats its workers badly,' added Mr Gou, who is known for guarding his privacy jealously. -- REUTERS

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May 27, 2010
11th Foxconn staff dies

BEIJING - ANOTHER employee of Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn fell to his death on Wednesday at the company's plant in southern China - the 11th such death this year, state media reported. The apparent suicides have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Apple manufacturer Foxconn, where labour activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm.

The official Xinhua news agency provided no further details on the latest death, which came just hours after the firm reportedly urged its workers in southern China to promise in writing not to kill themselves as it battles to stem a spate of factory suicides. -- AFP

[illiderob]

May 27, 2010
Foxconn ups anti-suicide drive

SHENZHEN (China) - APPLE manufacturer Foxconn on Wednesday urged workers to sign contracts promising not to kill themselves to stem a spate of suicides - hours before the 11th worker this year fell to his death. The apparent suicides have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn's southern Chinese plant, where activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm.

The official Xinhua news agency, quoting a witness, said the latest victim at the firm's giant Shenzhen plant fell to his death around 11.20pm (1520 GMT. 11.20pm Singapore time), adding that Foxconn had confirmed the death. Hours earlier Foxconn's Taiwanese parent company had apologised publicly for the suicides. 'I give my apologies for the impact this has had on society,' said Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn's Taiwanese parent company Hon Hai Precision, after flying into Shenzhen aboard his private jet for a hastily arranged media tour.

'I will do all I can to save lives.' But he defended the company's labour practices and speculated that some of the suicides may have been linked to personal or relationship problems. Foxconn employees must now agree to go to psychiatric institutions for their own protection if their mental health turns 'abnormal', according to reports. And the company was said to be hanging safety nets around buildings at its vast factory in Shenzhen after a 19-year-old worker fell to his death on Tuesday. Wednesday's death brings the toll of apparent suicides at the huge Shenzhen site this year to ten, with another death reported at a plant in northern China. -- AFP

[Tryphadz]

More Foxconn Suicides: Reports of 14, 15, & 16th Jumpings

by Fauna on Thursday, May 27, 2010
From Baidu Tieba:
Foxconn’s 15th suicide jumper has jumped, 16th is currently on the roof

The Foxconn Longhua C4 Building double-suicide [jumping from building] is already spreading on the internet: Foxconn #14 and #15 jump, new entry, Sina Weibo [Microblog, like Twitter], latest shocking news, around 12, Foxconn Longhua C4 Building, double-suicide, scene too horrible to look at, scene sealed off. Those are the details, still need confirmation.

Foxconn’s 15th consecutive jumping has already frightened the media at the scene, with some journalists/reporters already intending to no longer follow the story. Just what exactly is the cause, being cursed or infected by pressure? Some reporters suspect Foxconn having given the families of suicide victims 400,000 [RMB] plus a 30,000 [RMB] yearly pension to the parents have led to these poverty-stricken workers to copy each other willing to use their deaths to exchange financial security for their families. This view is indeed cold-blooded, but if it is true then that is our entire society’s responsibility and tragedy. If their deaths are for the compensation, then it should be treated differently.

Foxconn latest news: 16th possible suicide jumper has climbed onto the C3 Building. [See picture]

[Tryphadz]

Foxconn Suicides Continue:
PHOTOS Inside The iPhone Factory Plagued By Deaths

Huffington Post | Bianca Bosker

The Foxconn Technology Group's factory in southern China has been plagued by suicides in recent months. A young man who jumped to his death late Wednesday became the 10th person at the Shenzhen factor--and the 11th Foxconn worker--to commit suicide this year. His death came just after Foxconn's chairman led a media tour of the factory.

The Chinese factory is one of Apple's "main manufacturer contractors," and in addition to churning out iPods, iPhones, and iPads, the factory also supplies Intel, Dell, Sony, Nokia, and HP, among other firms. The Associated Press writes of Foxconn's labor practices: "Labor activists have long said that Foxconn's problem was a rigid management style on factory floors, where the assembly line moved too fast and workers were forced to log too much overtime. Foxconn has repeatedly denied the allegations."

The company plans to institute new measures it hopes will prevent additional employee deaths. In addition to installing safety nets on Foxconn buildings, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou said more counselors would be hired, and explained that "employees were being divided up into 50-member groups, whose members would watch for signs of emotional trouble within their group." The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the factory had also asked their employees to sign a "no suicide" pledge."




Company staff members stand at the balconies of residential house at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Southern city in China, Wednesday, May 26, 2010.(AP Caption)



Staff members work on the production line at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Southern city in China, Wednesday, May 26, 2010. The head of the giant electronics company whose main facility in China has been battered by a string of worker suicides opened the plant's gates to scores of reporters Wednesday, hours after saying that intense media attention could make the situation worse. (AP caption)



Staff members work on the production line at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Southern city in China. (AP Caption)



Staff members work on the production line at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Southern city in China. (AP Caption)

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May 30, 2010

Life at Foxconn
Undercover team reveals working conditions at China factory

By Connie Er



Between 300,000 and 400,000 employees eat, work and sleep at Foxconn's plant, in Longhua Town, which some have labelled the IT Forbidden City due to its water-tight security. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

THEY work, some on their feet throughout, up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, assembling products that most cannot afford to buy themselves: Apple iPhones, Apple iPads, Dell computers and Nokia mobile phones. They are not allowed to talk while working and could be fined for doing so. These are some of the conditions workers at Foxconn have to endure, according to an undercover team of seven Chinese who infiltrated the Longhua plant in southern China's Shenzhen boomtown two weeks ago, The Telegraph reported.

'Hundreds of people work in the workshops, but they are not allowed to talk to one another. If you talk, you get a black mark in your record and you get shouted at by your manager. You can also be fined,' investigator Zhu Guangbing, who organised the undercover operation, told London's The Telegraph. His team included netizen volunteers and four Foxconn workers. Between 300,000 and 400,000 employees eat, work and sleep at Foxconn's plant, in Longhua Town, which some have labelled the IT Forbidden City due to its water-tight security.

'In the past three months, the factory has been losing 50,000 staff a month because workers are burning out,' Mr Zhu, a migrant worker and a workplace rights advocate, said. 'The workers are reduced to repeating exactly the same hand movement for months on end.'

Read the full story in The Sunday Times.
connieer@sph.com.sg

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Jun 2, 2010
Foxconn wages to rise 30%

TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S Hon Hai Precision Industry plans to raise workers' salaries by 30 per cent at its Foxconn manufacturing hub in southern China, more than originally planned, a spokesman said, following a string of apparent suicides there. Taipei-based Hon Hai spokesman Arthur Huang said on Wednesday the increases will take effect immediately. The company's shares fell 2 per cent as it moved to quell a storm of bad publicity over the deaths.Hon Hai said with the higher wage increase it wanted to reflect rising prices in the mainland, and also hoped to earn the respect of workers and raise efficiency.

'Raising salaries will impact Hon Hai's costs, pressuring their ability to make a profit,' said Tom Tang, vice-president at Masterlink Investment Authority in Taipei. He added, however, that it was also a way to impress foreign investors. The company, maker of Apple Inc's iPhone among other top-brand electronic products, had said last week that it had planned for some time to raise wages for Foxconn workers by 20 per cent. A total of 10 workers have died at the company's sprawling production base in southern China this year, all apparently suicides. The company has faced mounting public anger and questions from its major clients, including Apple. -- REUTERS

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Jun 4, 2010
Foxconn death not work related



The company announced on Wednesday a 30 per cent pay raise for workers to help create a better working environment where employees can reduce overtime work and have more time for leisure. -- PHOTO: AFP

TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S Foxconn Technology Group, which has been shaken by a spate of worker suicides in China this year, said on Friday another employee had died but denied it was work-related. The maker of iPhones, iPads and other electronic gadgets for global corporations including Apple Inc said the 28-year-old engineer died 'a sudden death' last week at his home near Foxconn's Shenzhen plant in China's southern Guangdong province.

The cause of the death was being investigated and 'we have found nothing to support any allegation that it was work-related,' the company said in a statement. Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper reported on Wednesday that relatives claimed the engineer died of work stress, having worked 34 hours without a break shortly before his collapse.

The company announced on Wednesday a 30 per cent pay raise for workers to help create a better working environment where employees can reduce overtime work and have more time for leisure. Labour activists accuse the company of having a rigid management style, an excessively fast assembly line and forced overwork, allegations that Foxconn denies. Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou has promised to work harder to prevent more deaths. -- AP

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Jun 6, 2010
Another Foxconn pay raise



Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group said salaries would be raised in October to 2,000 yuan (S$413) for workers at its plant in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Workers elsewhere in China will get raises in July adjusted for local conditions, the statement said. -- PHOTO: AFP

TAIPEI - FOXCONN workers in China will get another pay raise in coming months, on top of an increase that just took effect in response to recent worker suicides, the company said on Sunday. Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group said salaries would be raised in October to 2,000 yuan (S$413) for workers at its plant in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Workers elsewhere in China will get raises in July adjusted for local conditions, the statement said.

Less than a week ago, the maker of iPads, iPhones and other electronic gadgets for international companies had raised workers' pay by 30 per cent at its plants across China. The basic salary at Foxconn's China plants was about 900 yuan per month before the 30 per cent raise, and new recruits are paid 1,200 yuan per month. 'This wage increase has been instituted to safeguard the dignity of workers,' said Foxconn chairman Terry Gou in the statement.

'We are working diligently to ensure that our workplace standards and remuneration not only continue to meet the rapidly changing needs of our employees, but they are best-in-class.' The company added workers in Shenzhen have to pass a three-month review period before they qualify for the October raise. It did not elaborate. Foxconn employs 300,000 in Shenzhen.

Labour activists accuse the company of having a rigid management style, an excessively fast assembly line and forced overwork. Foxconn denies the allegations, but it has been under great public pressure to improve conditions at its Chinese operations. Ten workers have killed themselves and three have attempted suicide at Foxconn's operations in southern China this year, mainly workers who jumped from buildings. -- AP