I've been into many factories inside China for many years (not the Foxcoon's). From the photos I see of Foxconn, they are by far the cleanest and nicest.
I think there are always workers who liked to complaint, but I'll willing to bet most of the Foxconn worker are happier to work there and may other factories. Look at the long lines applying for openings...
That's surprising, since some media sites with no first hand experience called it a hell hole.
This completely ignores the myriad of other reasons why people kill themselves: Marital Problems, Relationship Breakups, Sexual Orientation Issues (in a country where it's illegal), Gambling Debts... the list is endless, and none of which have any bearing on where they work!
Hard to do since the FLA doesn't focus on electronics firms and they are never typically audited in the first place. The only comparisons the can make are with other organizations that they audit or with what's publicly available.
I couldn't care less about fair labor - I'm an American. Just give me my shiny, new Apple products.
It's very easy to impress someone when you know they are coming! BTW, why doesn't some of these audit fools actually spend at least 1 full week eating/living/sleeping in the same facilities that these people live in? Don't expect anything negative to come out in the open about these audits. It's pure Politics and meant to make Apple look good. The truth is these factories are the equivalent of modern day slavery and people spend most of the year inside them and that is why they kill themselves because they can't even see their families and they are probably not allowed to communicate with them either or their families are too damn poor to be able to afford a computer, internet access or even a telephone.
-Mike
Market and competition are what they are. If you are a young company, or struggling financially, you have to do whatever you can to stay afloat, so long as it is legal, and that includes taking advantage of cheap labor and lenient regulations in China.
But when you're a company like Apple that sits on a huge pile of cash and you're not even using it to pay dividends to your shareholders, I think it's absolutely fair to be openly criticized and held accountable to a higher standard of ethics.
Even more so when said company communicates on and takes advantage of its hip and environment friendly reputation.
So sorry but I don't buy the argument "it's better than most other factories in China." By this reasoning, any complaint is invalid because you can always find something worst. It's like saying, "US workers shouldn't receive any benefit because some US citizens don't even have a job at all."
If a US worker works for a company that can afford better protection than other companies while still retaining comfortable profit margins, why shouldn't he get it? And why should it be any different in China?
While I agree with you that there are all kinds of different reasons why people commit suicide and we'll never know the reasons for the suicides that Foxconn, when people commit suicide at work, it's usually for occupational reasons.
That's surprising, since some media sites with no first hand experience called it a hell hole.
While I agree with you that there are all kinds of different reasons why people commit suicide and we'll never know the reasons for the suicides that Foxconn, when people commit suicide at work, it's usually for occupational reasons.
It's very easy to impress someone when you know they are coming! BTW, why doesn't some of these audit fools actually spend at least 1 full week eating/living/sleeping in the same facilities that these people live in? Don't expect anything negative to come out in the open about these audits. It's pure Politics and meant to make Apple look good. The truth is these factories are the equivalent of modern day slavery and people spend most of the year inside them and that is why they kill themselves because they can't even see their families and they are probably not allowed to communicate with them either or their families are too damn poor to be able to afford a computer, internet access or even a telephone.
-Mike
That's surprising, since some media sites with no first hand experience called it a hell hole.
"... It's more a function of monotony, of boredom, ...."
Seems that view could be applied equally to both sides.They've got a narrative to push and they won't let facts get in the way.
These were not surprise inspections, so they're pretty much useless.
Why aren't Foxconn's labor issues China's problem? This is backasswards.
Yes, and they didn't. The buildings with the nets around them, famed and reviled throughout the blogosphere, were residential buildings. Not the work itself.
While it is encouraging to see americans worried about worker rights, and to see an american company go to such great lengths to improve working conditions at its plants in china, I find it baffling that the working conditions of Foxconn employees working on Apple products in China has resulted in public outrage across the country while our food is being picked by people in far greater oppression (often literal slavery) right here in our own country.
Where is the national news coverage and public outrage about farm worker working conditions in the United States?
I'm a shareholder and I could care less about a dividend.
I'll take my $355 to $526 and climbing profit just in the last few months over a stupid dividend.
None that I am aware of - most companies do no auditing and there is no legal requirement to perform them. Certainly HP, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, or anybody else does what Apple does. Any sort of auditing would be purely private.Is there no organisation that specialises on electronics companies?
Apple did most likely - Cook made the announcement that they would join them at their last investor call if I remember right.Who picked the FLA in the first place?
While it is encouraging to see americans worried about worker rights, and to see an american company go to such great lengths to improve working conditions at its plants in china, I find it baffling that the working conditions of Foxconn employees working on Apple products in China has resulted in public outrage across the country while our food is being picked by people in far greater oppression (often literal slavery) right here in our own country.
Where is the national news coverage and public outrage about farm worker working conditions in the United States?