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Since the beginning of this year, a number of media outlets have reported on working conditions at Foxconn, the company that makes electronics for high-profile companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple. Although the reports have been disputed by companies, they paint a picture of long hours, poor safety, and unfair treatment for many of the company's 1.2 million employees. Now, a CNN reporter has interviewed an 18-year-old student who works 60-hour weeks manufacturing iPads in a Chengdu factory. The worker, known as "Miss Chen," says that the restaurant she was interviewed at is the first she's been to since starting work at the factory, where she also eats and sleeps. The CNN meeting was also, she said, the first time she had seen a finished iPad.
Although Chen was initially excited about landing a job at the factory, she now regrets it, saying that "I can't bear it anymore. Everyday is like: I get off from work and I go to bed. I get up in the morning, and I go to work. It is my daily routine and I almost feel like an animal." Moreover, the sick leave and benefits she says she was promised at the beginning turned out to be only for senior employees, and employees are threatened with "criminal liability" for speaking to the press. Despite the scrutiny Foxconn is receiving, however, it's difficult to say if its working conditions are actually worse than average among similar factories. Chen's story is hardly one of the worst that's come out of recent investigations, but it's a reminder of the working conditions that are considered standard or even favorable in electronics manufacturing.
Comments
In emerging nations, you work harder for longer hours for less pay. Cost of living is way waaay lower than in the us therefore their pay is way lower. Ask an american how well they live on minimum wage? should we do a story about those people? I’d bet they have a lot to complain about too.
DeeeNYC - February 6, 2012
Everyone can complain about something.
Gandalthewhite - February 6, 2012
Exactly!
What also infuriates me is that many signs point to Foxconn being one of the better places at which to work and possibly even a good place to work, as far as Chinese manufacturing goes. That then means that the hordes of sympathizers here are feeling sorry for people that really have the better end of the stick.
One might as well read an article about a bunch of Qatari (highest per capita GDP) going, “oh you poor middle class Americans; only two cars a family?”
mavere - February 6, 2012
It isn’t simply a class issue, these working conditions go against human nature, and these people do deserve sympathy just as much anyone else whose suffering.
james dot heck - February 6, 2012
Human nature is to see what you want to see and turn a blind-eye to problems they don’t want to deal with.
How many people blame Foxconn/Apple/Chinese Gvt for not doing more while relieving themselves of all responsibility?
gumbercules6 - February 6, 2012 via mobile
Everyone deserves sympathy. It’s simply better to focus on those who truly cannot raise themselves out of poverty and despair rather than those who are obviously doing it just fine.
mavere - February 6, 2012
True but this is an indication of the entire country. FoxConn is not alone in this tragedy
P.Girish - February 6, 2012
Obviously you’ve never been a postdoc ;)
lecti - February 6, 2012
I just laughed myself to tears reading your comment. I share your feelings buddy. :P :D
genghis khan - February 7, 2012
Impromptu postdoc support group!
warmonked - February 7, 2012
I know, right? It would be like those people in China going “oh you poor North Koreans; you get starvation instead of slave wages .” or a bunch of North Koreans going “oh you poor Ethiopians; you get malaria instead of starvation.”
I mean, Gandalthewhite said it, everyone can complain about something. Whiners all!
Mark LaCroix - February 7, 2012
Nail on the head my friend. I am so sick of the Verge team’s sanctimonious tone about this crap.
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
I do tend to agree, on the podcast the other day Josh and Paul seemed to be lacking from a bit of historical knowledge, if you look up “Workhouse” on Wikipedia (heaving lifting done here) you’ll see that this really part of the natural economic progression. And in fact the English and Welsh had to suffer it for centuries.
d0mth0ma5 - February 6, 2012
absolutely!
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
No, it’s how natural economic progression has evolved in the past. It doesn’t have to be that way still.
Nickedynick - February 6, 2012
It really does, unless you have a magic wand to raise education standards, nation-wide infrastructure and standard of living in a country with a GDP per capita of roughly $8,000. That’s on a par with Belize and Ecuador and the wealth disparity is enormous. They can’t just get better jobs, the jobs don’t exist yet, but they will come over time.
d0mth0ma5 - February 6, 2012
It wouldn’t if we actually paid a fair price for the goods we’re getting made in developingations. Not that I’m any less guilty of exascerbating the problem than anyone else here, but there really is a simple solution. It’s just that it isn’t popular.
Nickedynick - February 6, 2012
*developing nations
Nickedynick - February 6, 2012
Considering that this manufacturing takes place in China, where regulations are a bit looser and companies are “freer” to maneuver in the economic sense, it can be argued that the price we’re paying is one of the “fairest” prices around.
mavere - February 6, 2012
It’s actually better than fair.
Foxconn pays its workers more and has better conditions than its competitors. Why do you think so many people apply for a job there ?
threeseed - February 6, 2012
But we would not because the income disparity would still exist and those in power would still get more of the money. More cash won’t do anything in this case, the workers need to do what has been done countless times demand things and get them.
Lomifeh - February 6, 2012
Oh, so you’re suggesting that, instead of negotiating, companies who use Chinese labor should simply offer the amount they’d like to pay the factory to build their product?
MayorBloomberg - February 6, 2012
No.
Nickedynick - February 7, 2012
we do pay a fair price, the fair price is decided by a free economy. A fair price in a free economy is determined by essentially shopping around. Both parties agree on the price therefor it is fair to both parties. The same thing applies to working conditions, and it takes time, and in a communist nation it may take longer to reform, but eventually all there will be no employees willing to work in the crap condition and that is when things change. But right now there are people willing to work in those conditions. That’s just how it works, it may not be good, but it is most certainly fair.
mmoylan - February 6, 2012
It would be fair if they included the employees in the negotiation. I don’t think the “negotiators” at Foxconn are the ones complaining about the working conditions.
And no I’m not really suggesting that this happen. But just because working conditions are less then good, and it happens to be the norm, does not automatically make it fair.
Rapscallion0 - February 6, 2012
Employees are involved in the negotiations, not directly but, by taking the job they have agreed to work a specified amount for a specified amount of money. If they dont agree on that they dont take the job or quit. But if you say no there are currently other people who will say yes, so it is fair.
mmoylan - February 6, 2012
Choice != Fair, no matter how you slice it. The alternative to factory work at FoxConn is likely back to the farms. Which in many ways is worse.
What it sounds like your saying to me is that if your not desperate enough to work in these conditions we can find someone else who is.
Using that same logic, although admittedly to an extreme, I could say that you have two choices. Kill your family and live or don’t and die. But hey it’s fair because you have a choice.
Rapscallion0 - February 6, 2012
Don’t you get it? They don’t have a choice! It’s a job in horrible conditions or nothing – that doesn’t mean they want to work in those conditions. They just HAVE to agree.
nikoglo - February 6, 2012
Sorry for my English, I meant “under horrible conditions”
nikoglo - February 6, 2012
China isn’t exactly a stagnant, immobile economy. It’s growing like crazy, and these workers with which so many sympathize are in jobs that didn’t exist a few years before.
If what existed before was good enough—judging by the lack of sensationalist Western press then—and workers are choosing to leave the past, then aren’t these jobs now in fact better? If it is better, and the improvement happened over a few years, so short a timescale for so large a nation, then why should we be mad again?
That a clear and quick path of progress is somehow isn’t good enough? That we can somehow snap our fingers and things will be perfect? That fairies and unicorns should prance around, and utopia should exist before our very eyes?
mavere - February 6, 2012
People might pay a fair price, but it doesn’t mean people making it receive fair pay or conditions, look at Apple’s gigantic profits for a clue as to where the money might be going, that might give an idea of how Apple can charge so much but potentially pay so little.
What we need to know is:
1) What the average hours worked per week are in manufacturing jobs in China
2) What the average wage & benefit package is for those jobs
3) How Foxconn compare to those two things
Until we have that info, then it’s all speculation, but one thing is for clear is production lines running Apple equipment do seem to have problems with both employee welfare & safety. There is no smoke without fire
cc_star - February 6, 2012
I’m reading “Black Like Me” right now, and your comment is amazing in its similarity to that which Southerners used to justify the treatment of “Negro’s” up and throught the 50’s.
FreeThought - February 6, 2012
I would always consider myself to be on the side of equality, if you work or live in the US then you should be afforded the same rights and wages as your working/living equal. However it’s simply not practical for Chinese conditions and industry to be accelerated up to Western standard yet. The means don’t exist. It was within the power of the South to treat “Negro’s” equally, it isn’t in the power of Apple, the US or even China to raise standards for all chinese workers yet.
d0mth0ma5 - February 6, 2012
So for you equality is a national border. That is exactly how the south viewed the North’s involvement in their life.
Please note that I am not trying to say you are wrong, (I don’t know) I just find the similarity of your argument to the argument of the south somewhat jarring to me personally.
FreeThought - February 6, 2012
Somewhat jarring to you personally? Your complaint seems to tug at the heart and fog the mind.
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
wow! It’s amazing to read so many testimonies by people who rather side with a companies bottom line than the fair treatment of fellow human beings.
james dot heck - February 6, 2012
I side with reality, rather than an emotional shit-sandwhich
John T Wagner - February 7, 2012
No, because the South had it easily within their power to change the treatment, China really does not to the same degree. It would require investment beyond the means of China and the US.
d0mth0ma5 - February 6, 2012
Read this and tell me China does not have the means. I’m of the opinion that it has absolutely nothing to do with means, and more to do with making sure the rich stay rich. (both in China and the US)
This is also a very interesting video.
Rapscallion0 - February 6, 2012
hmm… links got stripped out.
http://blogs.reuters.com/india-expertzone/2011/03/02/chinese-investment-in-us-2-trln-and-counting/
http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_jacques_understanding_the_rise_of_china.html
Rapscallion0 - February 6, 2012
Yes because slavery did not make up 2/3 of the economy of the South during that time. No one was afraid that the economy of the South would crash if slavery ended.
patfactorx - February 7, 2012
But the jobs do exist. There are plenty of wealthy educated people in China doing jobs such as construction work, architecture, art, medical professions, etc. But these people are a minority because they had the money to pay for their education. Most of China is poor, and definitely cannot pay for education when they get paid a fraction of what those educated people get paid while working their jobs. China has a potential to expand, and to do that, it’s people need to be educated.
wtrmlnjuc - February 6, 2012
You don’t have a clue. The US can easily require foreign manufacturers to increase the conditions their employees suffer from. Without unions we would still be living in miserable conditions- heck Americans are pretty much working 60 hours a week for lower pay anyways. The point is the labor cost is a tiny fraction of overall cost of production of these electronic devices, and manufacturers force their employees to work as long as possible to avoid labor shortages that would force them to raise wages.
sonicmerlin - February 6, 2012
It gets a little sticky… issues about letting China have their sovereignty and whatnot…
I agree that US Companies COULD do more… And the US Government COULD do more…. and there could always be more done until they would be working in “better” conditions… But how good it needs to become.. everyone is going to have a different opinion on… If it was as good as the US… All the US companies might as well just leave china and manufacture everything locally… or find another country with lax rules…
The US could go ahead and tell every US company that it’s illegal to use bad labor.. and make it illegal to sell goods in the US produced by this type of labor… But that would essentially do major damage to the world economy right now… no one is going to do that… especially not now.
And again… They have to define what “bad labor” is… and it’ll get sticky there…
In my opinion… I see there is a sad reality… there’s always going to be an imbalance of wealth… and it’s a bit of a fact of life.
If one group becomes the new wealthy another group suffers in it’s place… One goes up.. another comes down… and as populations increase and resources become more and more limited… it’ll just get worse and worse.
I think ultimately it’s up to the Chinese governments responsibility… much more so than Apple, Samsung, Sony or any other companies or countries… I honestly don’t think they WILL do anything.. as they are now… So chances are nothing will happen until a Chinese revolution takes place… unless the chinese government DOES do something.. I think it’s inevitable.
ASgiov - February 8, 2012
While this is true…. Apple does have a responsibility to make conditions humane. Just because industrially China is still in the 1880 doesn’t mean we get to turn a Culturally Relativistic Blind eye…
Critic - February 6, 2012
As long as people get their iPads and it’s happening in China and not America, it doesn’t matter to most people, as evident in the comment section. We’ll provide 101 reasons to excuse it, mean while, there are people in the 21st century that are suffering like they’re living in the 19th century.
sooper_verge12 - February 6, 2012
I do agree, but if they just pulled out these people’s lives would be worse. Also you can’t lay the blame solely at Apple, the industry as a whole in conjunction with the Chinese government (local/national) needs to improve the conditions, but again that will take time.
Also to hark back to the podcast (which I was going to write something about but never got round to it) hollering about how Apple should produce things in America because then people would pay the extra for it, that’s rubbish, yes maybe SOME would in the US. But what about the rest of the world, they don’t give a monkeys about it being made in the US why would they pay extra?!
d0mth0ma5 - February 6, 2012
I agree completely. I also don’t buy the Made in the USA argument. No one wants to pay more. It’s completely counter intuitive if you understand capitalism at all…
I don’t think you can blame Apple solely, but they have the most pull and in the best position to actually force a change. Lets face it in China’s political environment there will be no Upton Sinclair or Teddy Roosevelt to come to the rescue.
Critic - February 6, 2012
Why Apple?
Foxconn currently has 25 major customers, including Samsung, Motorola, Mircosoft and Nintendo. Apple might have the biggest volume, but that does not mean they’re responsible for all of Foxconn’s factory workers.
b00gizm - February 6, 2012
Apple has the biggest volume and thus has the most leverage. If they wanted to do something all it would take is the simple threat to move manufacturing somewhere else.
Critic - February 6, 2012
Right. Nice excuse.
ALL of those companies could do the same.
threeseed - February 6, 2012
They could and should, I’m not saying that these other companies bare no responsibility, just that Apple could lead if it wanted to.
If Apple cared they’d do something about it. Apple has built it’s entire public persona around being “Different” and being socially responsible. They spend millions a year donating and charaties, and they make sure everyone knows it.
Yet when faced with something like this, something completely within their control they balk.
Critic - February 6, 2012
they didn’t donate shit until Steve Jobs died
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
That being so wouldn’t helping sort out the labor practices in their factories overseas be a good start to this new found philanthropic approach…
Critic - February 6, 2012
Yeah that’s not even true. Apple was anti-philanthropy until late 2011.
selectodude - February 6, 2012
Whether or not Apple has that much responsibility, the article fails to convince that Foxconn’s conditions are inhumane in any way.
The crux of the woman’s complaints seem to be long work hours, something with which even the highest paid workers in America must contend. What a lot of workers over here do not have, though, is occupational mobility. Knowing that she is working in a booming economy that is sprouting jobs everywhere, my bleeding liberal heart is having trouble squeezing out an extra drop or two.
mavere - February 6, 2012
Interesting… How do you feel about the labor movement overall? I think it’d be the irony of ironies if you consider yourself a supporter of Labor in the US but you have this kind of attitude about labor in China.
I’m personally no huge fan of Big Labor, but Unions do serve a purpose, and do do good when companies go bad. Establishing a 40 hour week, Safe and humane working environments, and minimum wages are hallmarks of the Labor movement.
Critic - February 6, 2012
The question is, at what point is it unethical to support a certain low level of pay and treatment of workers? Just because it’s part of a historical pattern, it doesn’t mean it’s right. Slavery is also part of a historical pattern, if your iPad was being made by slaves, would you simply say that given time, economic conditions would make it go away? At what point is it, regardless of expected advancement of a country’s workers, unacceptable to support horrendous working practices?
I do believe that things will get better in China. But I hope that we can hasten that a long a bit by complaining or (in an ideal world) taking our business elsewhere. Speaking of which, anyone know if Nokia’s using Chinese sweatshops? Because a Lumia with a nice “Made in Finland” badge on the back would make me happy.
Answering my own question: Production Facilities. There’s a couple in China, so the question then becomes are they any better?…
mmaestro - February 6, 2012
I think what Josh and Paul were suggesting is Apple to pull there factories out and bring them back to the US. I think they were saying that would help the US economy and help the Asian governments to improve their working environments or the US is going to back out. I could be wrong though.
kweazy - February 6, 2012
I was also disappointed to hear Josh suggesting that Apple give away a portion of their cash reserves to improve FoxConn conditions. Whatever 90 Billions Apple has is chump change to change anything on a Nation wide scale.
P.Girish - February 6, 2012
Really?
Ever worked in a sweatshop or have a relative that has? These people eat, sleep, work at the same place and they are working 60 hours/week. The whole “economic progression” crap is that, crap. This is not evolution where things happen in a progression, this is capitalism and we make it what we want. If we followed this belief that it’s something they have to go through and in time it will get better, their economy would take 80 years to get to the point where we are in North America and yet in the matter of 15 they went from an agrarian society mostly impoverished to a high tech capital of the world and the biggest exporter…
This is simply because we want the latest and greatest for next to nothing…accept slave labour but cheap electronics or good working conditions but paying a little bit more.
Greed – it sucks.
lipper - February 6, 2012
I guarantee that i’ve had a relative who worked in a workhouse, not living or even in the previous 4 generations but somewhere back there absolutely.
Your view is of an idealistic world where if wishing makes it so then we can all live in nice houses and get 25 days holiday, it isn’t feasible yet, we have finite resources, China will not have to suffer the hundred of years of industrial revolution, they may be done in 20 or so.
d0mth0ma5 - February 6, 2012
I don’t understand, why does it have to be a human workload? The technology for an automated assembly line has existed for quite a while now, even used in the manufacturing of automotive vehicles.
But then again, where are they (the Foxconn workers) going to get jobs then? How are they going to get paid?
wtrmlnjuc - February 6, 2012
Just because Victorians had to endure horrendous conditions in workhouses does not mean that this is OK in current times, especially when corporations are making billions of dollars in profits every year.
You can try justifying it any way you want, but it doesn’t make it right. People are concerned over the conditions for the people who make their gadgets, and that’s a legitimate concern that deserves further research. Just saying “Well, it’s always been like that” adds nothing to the debate.
Dave Ray - February 8, 2012
If one wants to incite social progress in a foreign nation, perhaps one’s rallying cries shouldn’t be the working conditions of a college dorm and the working hours of a myriad of salaried Westerners.
mavere - February 6, 2012
Non-Exempt versus Exempt. Big Difference.
Critic - February 6, 2012
They can simply quit.
As long as that is an legally-backed option and as long as China is a booming economy full of opportunities, I’m not quite sure if this “problem” here is really a problem.
mavere - February 6, 2012
Whilst the Chinese economy IS booming it is hardly full of opportunities, they have a vast uneducated lower class, and the available workforce exceeds the number of jobs many times over. This is what allows such conditions to exist, these people don’t have a choice there is no, if you don’t like it go work somewhere else, it’s if you want to quit, fine, go back to working on a farm, we’ve go 20 people waiting to take your job off you.
Vinnie555 - February 7, 2012
Exactly! There is no incentive to improve the conditions because there will always be someone to replace them.
Rapscallion0 - February 7, 2012
“Well if you don’t like it, quit” is the rallying cry of those who just don’t care. Exploitation is exploitation, whether it’s one workplace or another. No one is saying that this is only an issue at a single plant – it’s nationwide.
What is wrong with highlighting these conditions and trying to improve working life for those who have the least power? Why is that rubbing some people up the wrong way, as if Apple couldn’t absorb a dollar extra for every iPad made?
Dave Ray - February 8, 2012
You know what I find HILARIOUS.
Is that there are many people at Google in the US who live at the office and work 60+ hours a week.
threeseed - February 6, 2012
Most of those people are non-exempt hourly workers and are getting paid overtime to stay for 60+ hours. Why do you think there is such an uproar when the Department of Labor talks about reclassifying computer programmers and IT engineers in such a way to make the Exempt?
Critic - February 6, 2012
There are a lot more exempt workers in the US than you realize.
QuarterSwede - February 6, 2012
I work 60-70 hours per week and do not receive overtime.
ultraviol3tlux - February 6, 2012
Yep.
50-60 hours/wk is not that rare, even in US, and pretty much a norm in Asia. (Get paid for overtime? HA!)
Some people are such pussies.
lecti - February 7, 2012
China is not Capitalist.
Just because US is a capitalist nation doesn’t mean they have any control of what chinese do to their workers.
P.Girish - February 6, 2012
I almost stopped listening to one of the recent podcasts because of how uninformed they were about the issue.
oghowie - February 6, 2012
A single American on minimum wage can still afford to live and eat in their own home.
When your pay is so low that you have to live and eat on site just to survive, Something is wrong.
Adam Meddaugh - February 6, 2012
AKA slavery.
MutualCore - February 6, 2012
Slavery means that yourself, your fortunes, and freedom are controlled by another. or that you are forced to work against your will. Slavery by definition is against the persons will. People seem to be confused that these people choose to work at these factories.
mmoylan - February 6, 2012
This is more like indentured servitude, it’s still awful
james dot heck - February 6, 2012
Aren’t they still free to leave their jobs and find something else?
At that point, “indentured servitude” becomes something as mundane as “working in a third class country” or even “a Chinese worker”.
mavere - February 6, 2012
You are right but does that mean everyone should wash their hands of the situation? After all they are just Chinese workers…
Appalling…
Rapscallion0 - February 7, 2012
Nope. Those workers won’t be shot if they try to quit.
lecti - February 6, 2012
There is absolutely no way an American on $7.25 per hour in 2012 can even begin to survive or eat in their own home. Considering how expensive apartment cost, electricity, transportation, clothing, food, & other cost? It doesn’t even come close to being a living sustainable wage. Even kids at $8, $9, or $10 bucks an hour don’t even come close to to being able to live & eat in their own home. Please don’t make such ignorant & foolish remarks when you honestly don’t know.
00QuantaMeister - February 6, 2012
Someone making $7.40 an hour can get a house for under $150/m in a suburb of Detroit. Houses are dirt cheap. I can take public transport and get virtually anywhere within a 150 mile radius. $232/m for house and metro pass. If you think that you have to live in a $700/m apartment to survive shows that you’re the one who has realistically no clue.
Adam Meddaugh - February 6, 2012
In Detroit. So you’re saying that a person on minimum wage has to live in one of the most depressed, blighted cities in America to survive. Nevermind the minimum wage workers who live in NYC.
MayorBloomberg - February 6, 2012
I said suburb of Detroit. The suburbs around here aren’t all blighted.
If god forbid you’re in a situation where you’re forced to live on minimum wage you really need to lower your standards a little bit. If you expect to live comfortably.
The main point I was trying to make though is that in the US it is much easier to live comfortably on minimum wage than it is to live in China on minimum wage. Theres a difference between living comfortably on the basics and the ability to afford luxuries like being on a premium wireless network and living in a super nice city.
People who don’t understand this concept are the same people who spend way above their means, because they lack the ability to make sacrifices in times of hardship.
Adam Meddaugh - February 6, 2012
“The main point I was trying to make though is that in the US it is much easier to live comfortably on minimum wage than it is to live in China on minimum wage.”
That’s quite far from what you actually said.
QuarterSwede - February 6, 2012
What do you mean by “lower your standards”? You mean, eat top ramen every day and live in the most dangerous neighborhood you can? Because, again, if you’re living in NYC, that $740 an hour isn’t getting you very far. And that’s in a city with the best public transportation system in the country, so I’m going to ignore the question of how one actually gets to and from work for a moment. I suspect you don’t know much about cost of living from state to state, or what it’s actually like to make that tiny amount of money a month.
MayorBloomberg - February 6, 2012
Of course, I meant $7.40.
MayorBloomberg - February 6, 2012
Does NYC have no outerlying suburbs with bus access into the main city?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Heights,Michigan
Michigan" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferndale,Michigan
Oak,Michigan" target="blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Oak,Michigan
Park,Michigan" target="blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_Park,_Michigan
Those were some examples I was referring to when relating to Detroit. All have homes that can be had for <$200/month. All of which will see less murder in 2 decades than your typical major area will see in a weekend. None of these neighborhoods are blighted.
With the way the national housing market is i’m extremely doubtful that this scenario only exists in my local area.
Secondly, I never grew up rich. I actually currently support myself this way while i’m going to school.
Making minimum wage and living in one of the above suburban areas.
Adam Meddaugh - February 6, 2012
Ha. I don’t mean to laugh, but in NY, going to the suburbs generally means paying more, not less. Westchester is the suburb of NYC, which, per capita, is one of the richest counties in the U.S. Which actually brings me to another point, which is that the reason you can even find housing for the prices you quote in and around Detroit is because, believe it or not, Detroit is a blighted metropolitan area. Not only is it blighted, but it is perceived as blighted, which is worse, because that sinks its property value. As a consequence, rent is dirt cheap. I can’t tell you where you should or should not be comfortable living, but your idea of reasonable living seems to be “make minimum wage, move to Detroit.” What if you live somewhere else? What if you don’t want to live near a block of abandoned homes? Minimum wage, it has been shown (can’t quote you the sources right this moment) is mostly inadequate to support one person, and in fact puts you well below the established poverty line. And please don’t have to be responsible for anyone other then yourself; you’d be better off killing yourself if you have to support a child and yourself on one minimum wage job. And so you know where this is going, if you’re halfway smart.
MayorBloomberg - February 6, 2012
The thing about the US is that there are jobs where you get more than the minimum wage. There’s free education. There are college loans. There’s opportunity.
The vast majority of positions in the far east are for a miniscule wage and have far worse conditions. Please don’t confuse the US job market and the level of government legislation with that of China – there’s just no comparison.
Dave Ray - February 8, 2012
Or Texas or Florida or any of the other states where real estate is quite inexpensive.
ultraviol3tlux - February 6, 2012
It’s not necessarily bad that the issue of ethics/morality is being discussed in terms of its role in technology (after all, TheVerge is a tech site)
My point of conflict is that only Apple is being talked about. How about every other item/product in every store in America/world and its parent company. It’s almost impossible to find a product not made in China.
TechedOn - February 6, 2012
Because Apple is not the biggest kid on the block, and has the most clout. It isn’t their moral imperative sure, but if they actually wanted things to change they could make it happen.
Critic - February 6, 2012
Apple IS the biggest kid on the block. The Verge programmers need to add a comment edit button…
Critic - February 6, 2012
Yeah, if Apple wanted to bully around the Chinese, they totally could.
Jingoism/American White Knight-ism at its finest.
MayorBloomberg - February 6, 2012
Exactly! Sure you may make $3 an hour but when a meal is $10 instead of $40, that $3 isn’t as bad as it seems! Minimum wage here is probably much worse here than what they make at Foxconn.
MysticLeviathan - February 6, 2012
Last I read they are making 30 cents an hour at FoxConn…yeah, real good…
eKafara - February 6, 2012 via mobile
Yes. And?
Come back when you can tell us China’s per capita GDP, the local cost of living, and the wages of similar positions at other companies. Then, perhaps, you might approach a nuanced argument.
mavere - February 6, 2012
Exactly, they’re quite well paid for laborers in China.
QuarterSwede - February 6, 2012
Actually you are wrong. Rent is getting very expensive in China in urban areas and certainly similar to the west, however the wages don’t follow and as such the workers have to live in factory dorms or they wouldn’t be able to survive.
A 30 SQM apt in the city is around 3000Yuan per month which is double, triple or worse of a factory workers monthly pay. Also grocery prices are actually way higher than US prices. The US i one of the cheapest places in the world right now. People from Europe travel there, shop and earn a free ticket from that and then some.
I think Americans should be thankful for having relatively high wages and extremely lowcost of living.
I know because I live in China now but I am from Denmark which is the most expensive EU country as for cost of living and I find that most of the time I pay more here than I would in Europe.. The only way you would have a lower cost of living is if you only consume rice, vegetables and soy milk. I bought an iPhone 4s 4 days ago and it cost me 5200Yuan Cash. It was my only option. I bet this is the highest price in the world and it is actually manufactured here.
Pixil - February 6, 2012
Exploiting someone because you can makes it right? Rationalizing cruelty is a game I won’t play.
BTK - February 6, 2012
If you look at the article , people are complaining more about working conditions than wages. It is true that people went through this stage in all developed countries. Does it mean it must never improve? if the discussions in the media can act as a catalyst of change isn’t it good?
noble.paul - February 6, 2012
Firstly, Americans working on minimum wage wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near an electronics factory. These factories make electronics to a standard unachievable in America (reference to Eric Schmidt’s comments on why America doesn’t manufacture things).
Secondly, an American on minimum wage, working in a factory for 60 hours with no allowed sick leave, virtually non-existent health and safety standards, working under dangerous conditions just doesn’t exist. Your talking about a McDonalds shop, we’re talking about producing advanced electronics products held to quality control bordering on perfection.
To take such issues lightly is your right, just as it is mine to hope that you will never hold a position of power.
Thirdly, your argument that since everybody has something to complain about, nothing should be improved is testament to the low standards of education and basic logic America is renowned for.
Luckily, iPads made by underage, overworked workers in China will be made available to you shortly to animate the 6th grade concepts you still find puzzling.
BlackJack - February 7, 2012
“Everyday is like: I get off from work and I go to bed. I get up in the morning, and I go to work.”
Sounds like life?
On a more serious note. The biggest issue is the conditions and the work “required” by each employee compared to the pay they are recieving. Does anyone know actual pay vs cost of living compared to the US?
mitchartz - February 6, 2012
That’s a bit out of context, right after that quote it’s mentioned that they implied would be available to her aren’t.
Also as other pieces have mentioned the employees in China (allegedly) quite frequently have to work much longer shifts with significantly less time off than compared to US workers. I suspect if manufacturing employees in the US were surveyed they wouldn’t be found to be working 6 or 7 days a week with 60-hour work weeks with no sick-leave or benefits.
JPenguinCA - February 6, 2012
I suspect the workers in the U.S. that were polled would also be found to not be living in a poor developing country.
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
Give it some time…
BrightSilence - February 6, 2012
All right, J.H. Kunstler.
mortenjorck - February 6, 2012
Educated diss!
Love it :)
BrightSilence - February 12, 2012
The biggest issue is only the safety of the work and the age of the workers.
Wage is determined by local economics and regulations. You can’t just sit 3,000 miles away and go “I like you; here’s 20 times your nation’s per capita GDP”.
mavere - February 6, 2012
Exactly!
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
They are living where they work…I’m not even sure they pay anything for board but I can tell you from the pictures I’ve seen, it’s like living in summer camp…but for your whole life!!!!!!
lipper - February 6, 2012
Hard to believe that a supposedly communist country does not have a labor movement to protect against these types of abuses. Until they do, the promise of development in China will never be complete.
DelScorcho - February 6, 2012
…a Communist country wouldn’t have labor protections.
Gandalthewhite - February 6, 2012
That’s a daft comment- communism is supposed to be about the workers taking control of the means of production. To put it tritely, communism is (meant to be) a political labour movement.
China (an ostensibly market capitalist state with a strangely mixed bag of rights for and restrictions on its citizens) is pretty resistant to unionising and protest, though.
Carl Simpson - February 6, 2012
If you think communism in it’s current iteration has anything to do with Karl Marx or Frederick Engels, you are sorely wrong (unfortunately)….
lipper - February 6, 2012
Oh, no, I agree fully.
I just thought it was silly to say that labour protections COULDN’T be associated with Communism.
There are very few states claiming to be Communist, these days, though, and all of them have a COMPLETELY different state structure!
For example, China is more-or-less like the West minus some civil liberties, whereas North Korea is a dynastic totalitarian dictatorship.
Carl Simpson - February 7, 2012
Works more in theory than practice obviously
james dot heck - February 6, 2012
I wonder if the theory’s ever had a fair shot, given who its custodians have been over the years.
That said, Marx’s historical determinism is quite ridiculous, and it’s a pretty essential component of his formulation of Communism. Perhaps we can rip that out and still keep all the stuff about simplifying social relations? Who knows.
Capitalism seems to be doing an OK job, anyway, for now. Revolution on a massive scale would probably be an overreaction to its recent failings…
Carl Simpson - February 7, 2012
During a quarrel on YouTube with a Chinese government official, I got informed that in fact, the Chinese government isn’t Communist. It’s Socialist. I felt horrible because the Chinese were being lied to, as they still have “Communist Party” plastered up there.
wtrmlnjuc - February 6, 2012
Ah, “socialism” is the word we all have to use to refer to communising goods and services now that McCarthyism has ruined the word “communism” for everyone, worldwide, in any context.
The UK government is full of people saying “social this, social that, socialism” to refer to “nationalisation”, a word which gained a bad rep after the trains were privatised and the postal service failed to thrive, which in turn was itself just a term for government run services paid for by taxes, which you might say are services that have been “communised”.
Can’t blame anyone for wanting to keep their political rhetoric as distant as possible from the world’s current self-identified communists, though.
Carl Simpson - February 7, 2012
abuses? You privileged americans…
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
Yes, you’re right, a labs movement is what’s holding China back… lol
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
*labor
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
The working conditions in american factories 100 years ago were as bad or worse than they currently are in China. Imagine what it must have been like to work 6 12-hour days, only to work a 24 hour shift on Sunday. What, you think Andrew Carnegie instituted the 40 hour workweek at his steel mills out of the goodness of his heart? It’s only because of labor unionization that we middle-class Americans, even if we’ve never been in a union, don’t have deal with this anymore.
Yes, working at Foxconn is probably better than life on the farm, but until they can politicize their concerns, their exploitation will continue.
DelScorcho - February 6, 2012
Imagine what it was like before the factories, working in the fields for 12 hours a day, and then working another six hours a day at home just to keep from starving. Exploitation my freaking ass.
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
Yes, agreed that it’s better to be Chinese and work at this factory than be North Korean with no factory. But still, if these people could organize to get a slighly bigger share of the spoils, at a marginal cost to consumers and Apple shareholders, why would you begrudge them that? Is it not just to get paid what the market would bear absent the Chinese government’s repression?
DelScorcho - February 6, 2012
They are getting paid exactly what the market will bear, actually probably slightly more:
http://micgadget.com/21420/thousands-line-up-for-foxconns-jobs-in-zhengzhou/
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
The Only Companies get Unions are the ones that deserve them. Apple and Foxconn have the opportunity to head this off at the pass and choosing not to seems stupid.
Critic - February 6, 2012
China is communist in name only. Its economic system is authoritarian state capitalism.
r3loaded - February 6, 2012
and thank the flying spaghetti monster for that!
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
or god whichever you prefer
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
China hasn’t been a real communist country(whatever that is) for a while now.
LtCommissionerBillCosby - February 6, 2012
and things were so great under Mao
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
I never said they were. I’m just stating the fact that China is communist in name only. Whether or not a truly communist society is actually feasible is a whole other debate.
LtCommissionerBillCosby - February 6, 2012
I’m not going to make a joke about great leap and Foxconn suicides because that’s just tasteless.
lecti - February 6, 2012
When the labor supply in China begins to reach an equilibrium and as wealth continues to pour into the middle class it will change. Keep in mind that this new middle class will become China’s main consumer and policy maker and will accelerate progress exponentially. It is only a matter of time.
.
Egrev - February 7, 2012
I hear similar stories from U.S. citizens who work at factory jobs. Even office workers in the U.S.A. complain that they feel that it never ends.
At one software development job, I worked 7 days a week, 18 hours each day and it was 45 days until I had a break and that was when 4 of us were boarding a flight to a software development programme with our principal vendor for a week. Some of the people at work had blankets and pillows on occasion.
Sure, I feel sorry for people being abused but it’s not like every society can run around this time of their development.
bousozoku - February 6, 2012
Your typical starting software engineer is also making 40 – 50k a year. If you have lots of experience you could be seeing 100K+.
Adam Meddaugh - February 6, 2012
Okay, and that has to do with what? I could afford a really good blanket and pillow?
It’s not like we had time to spend money except for lunch or the occasional movie, though others were spending the majority of their money on their student loans.
bousozoku - February 6, 2012
I think, however, that in America, you can easily choose another job. In China, that is the best you get. Subsistence farming isn’t much better.
Gandalthewhite - February 6, 2012
wow
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
meaning….
Gandalthewhite - February 6, 2012
Ha ha this is not the only type of work offered in China, just for uneducated people it is one of the options.
Pixil - February 6, 2012
I said it was the best job…….unless you get a position in government.
Gandalthewhite - February 7, 2012
i don’t understand the point of this stories about how working at foxconn sucks. Yes, yes it does. Except it probably sucks much less than being out in the farming districts trying to survive, which is why people in China want these jobs. Would they all be better off if conditions were better and pay better? Sure. But of course more people would be fighting for the same jobs an there would probably be less of them. You know what will solve these problems? When she moves into the middle class and her children have the luxury of not needing a job like this. The same thing that happened in America. This takes time.
asarathy - February 6, 2012
Yes! Yes! How do people not know this? I mean, did anybody open a book when they were in school?
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
These stories help us see who is making the gadgets we use. The more ignorant we are to their plight the less incentive there is to change it by those who can. Were supposed to sympathize with people.
james dot heck - February 6, 2012
I don’t think people in this country truly understand what it like in eastern countries like China and India. The shear number of people who live in abject poverty is almost incomprehensible to us here. We see these conditions and think, man it’s terrible, I wouldn’t want to work in them. But we don’t see what their alternative would be without the job. I am not saying that things couldn’t be better, obviously they could and should but imposing our standards on to other parts of the world just doesn’t work, Their are other things in play and its more complicated than that.
This is not to excuse what’s going on, I think improving the conditions of people anywhere is a good thing, but I think people are confusing the symptoms with the problem. People are working these terrible condition jobs because there are no alternatives. They are killing themselves because they feel they have no alternative. Gadget manufacturing conditions in China is not what going to effect this. It’s the overall improvement in the Chinese economy and living condition that will, and that takes time. Making Foxconn really nice to work at helps the 400k workers there, but with out improving all jobs improving it solves nothing, just alleviates gadget buyers guilt.
asarathy - February 8, 2012
Except America had/has a republican form of government with a private capitalist system. China is Communist with a state capitalist system. Don’t look for the same miracles to come out of China as long as they are Communist.
Gandalthewhite - February 6, 2012
Things change and are unpredictable. Who know what China will be like 10 or 20 years from now. A growing middle class will demand these kind of changes regardless of communism. And the chinese government will have to change eventually are suffer the eventual and inevitable fate of a.ll despotic regimes.
asarathy - February 8, 2012
60 hour work weeks in the US are not uncommon but usually attached to that is better pay and more opportunity for advancement. You might think she could just save up enough to go get a higher education but that is not so easy in China from what I understand. The best chance is promotion from within and I doubt that is likely for most of these workers.
WhoamIhmmm - February 6, 2012
So, life is harder in a poor developing country? you don’t say?
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
It’s a little more than that. The opportunity for higher education in the US exists for a broader range of people than in China not because it is a richer country.
WhoamIhmmm - February 6, 2012
China can’t have it both ways. They want to be a poor and developing country but want to develop a huge HSR network and a space program while their people are working on <1 dollar/hour wages.
Perhaps they should spend that money on becoming a first world country.
Adam Meddaugh - February 6, 2012
I think you mean More Economically Developed Country, as the Chinese Government will always want to be a “Second World” Country.
d0mth0ma5 - February 6, 2012
Poor? not really…
Pixil - February 6, 2012
Cost of Living (CoL) is not a reason to say these workers don’t deserve decent pay. The maximum monthly wage at China’s minimum is $202 US dollars. Most full time workers in the US make that in a week working full time.
I’m actually pretty disturbed by how these folks on this comment thread are perfectly fine with it, comparing to the national development of other developed countries. Pointing out that its better than farming is like toasting a s*** sandwich.
Foxconn is indicative of what else happens. Maybe its not the poster boy for terrible working conditions, but it says that this happens, and that somewhere in China, it will be getting worse for some workers.
Rebel908 - February 6, 2012
wow
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
Spend your time being sorry for the people far worse off than the people at Foxconn. I mean seriously!
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
Yeah, weekly suicides are a sure sign of a healthy workplace.
Psycros - February 6, 2012
How many postal workers shot up their workplace. Should we investigate the USPS?
DeeeNYC - February 6, 2012
Get your facts straight… The suicide rate among Foxconn workers is 1/10 that of China’s general population. That is an order of magnitude.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/01/29/the-apple-boycott-people-are-spouting-nonsense-about-chinese-manufacturing/2/
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
Foxconn employs 1.2 MILLION people in China
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
That’s a horrible thing to write, these are people not objects.
james dot heck - February 6, 2012
My first job as a programmer was paid $150 per month for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, somewhere in Eastern Europe.
That was a decent job for me at the time.
How about you realize how lucky you are for being born in a first world country and have nice hot cup of shut the **** up.
adent - February 6, 2012
The description of her workplace are pretty typical of low paying Chinese factories but this portion really REALLY bothered me
kalikot - February 6, 2012
She says she regrets getting the job at the factory, but there isn’t any information suggesting she isn’t able to quit. Presumably she doesn’t think being jobless is better and there isn’t a better job out there for her. So how can she regret it? She may not enjoy it, but it her actions suggest it was the best choice from among bad options.
Duotronic - February 6, 2012
The same people commenting on the heresy of this article, rest safely under the cover which fair labor laws protect and enforce. What Foxxcon is doing is directly akin to slavery in America. Anyone reading this article should be applauded that ANY human being is being subject to this kind of working environment. Martin Luther King Jr said that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” This is wrong, and there is just nothing more to add or subtract from it.
rcprater9 - February 6, 2012
You’re right, although I think you mean appalled, not applauded.
Kirielson - February 6, 2012
It’s more like serfdom than slavery.
d0mth0ma5 - February 6, 2012
*Appalled.
WhoamIhmmm - February 6, 2012
Oh please save us the drama queen theatrics.
MutualCore - February 6, 2012
I’m confused how 60 hours a week is a lot of hours? Plenty of Americans work 60 hours a week. It did mention that she is a student but didn’t say how many hours she is in school or studies.
pcoffey - February 6, 2012
Except in America you can quit and find another job, you don’t have to be a total slave.
MutualCore - February 6, 2012
And why can’t they quit?
Denarius - February 6, 2012
Because it’s back to the farm district. They don’t have the option of getting another McJob.
MutualCore - February 6, 2012
So they can quit, this is just the best job available. Every single person there has a choice.
Denarius - February 6, 2012
So it’s a choice of being a slave laborer on the farm or at Foxconn. Nice “choice”.
MutualCore - February 6, 2012
You obviously have no concept of what slavery is. It. May not be a great choice, but it is far from slavery.
Denarius - February 6, 2012
We are all slaves to reality Mutualcore. Or are you different?
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
If you can find a job, that is. Not all of us are so lucky, even in US.
lecti - February 6, 2012
Besides in the end, out of sight out of mind. As long as I get my shiny device, what do I care?
MutualCore - February 6, 2012
exactly. god forbid anyone think about their money goes.
sideshowscott - February 6, 2012
So what are you going to do about it?
Besides grandstanding on the Internet, that is.
adent - February 6, 2012
Nothing. I don’t give a crap.
MutualCore - February 6, 2012
We were already aware of that
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
“I GET OFF FROM WORK AND I GO TO BED. I GET UP IN THE MORNING, AND I GO TO WORK… I ALMOST FEEL LIKE AN ANIMAL.”
Anonymous Foxconn worker
… sounds familiar… it’s called work, welcome to the workforce.
ryanrafferty - February 6, 2012
Exactly!
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
Nailed it.
lecti - February 6, 2012
Why is Apple being singled out?
How about every other tech company?
How about most clothing manufacturers?
How about every item that is found in almost every store in America and its parent company?
TechedOn - February 6, 2012
The clip mentions Microsoft.
adent - February 6, 2012
lol – nice.
2 out of thousands of companies is a good cross section.
TechedOn - February 6, 2012
It’s better than previous hit pieces on Apple.
Journalists need to sell their content and the truth is too complicated and boring for the mass market.
adent - February 6, 2012
Then they should learn how to write tech pieces that are detailed and interesting, not bit*h out.
TechedOn - February 6, 2012
Let’s be reality here. No one cares about whatever low-budget, low-quality piece of sh*t Acer puts out, even though whoever they go to probably has their workers working for less(if they actually pay them at all) under much worse conditions.
LtCommissionerBillCosby - February 6, 2012
Because the Apple “rented” plants are akin to the 9th Circle of Hell and because its sector is where the most suicides and protests occurred.
id4andrei - February 6, 2012
Yeah, except for those 300 that signed a suicide pact…that were building Xbox 360s, right?
Idiot.
Ephemerol- - February 7, 2012
Protest is one thing and factually recorded suicides are another. Don’t understand why ignoramuses such as yourself resort to lawyering for Apple.
id4andrei - February 8, 2012
Because the Apple “rented” plants are akin to the 9th Circle of Hell and because its sector is where the most suicides and protests occurred.
id4andrei - February 6, 2012
This is actually a pretty nice story once you cut through the thick layer of spin.
Let’s ignore the CNN editorializing and look at the facts and original comments.
adent - February 6, 2012
It’s abuse because she can’t afford an iPhone 4S!
MutualCore - February 6, 2012
Neither can I.
When is my CNN tearjerker interview?
adent - February 6, 2012
They’re not malnourished, that’s a fact. Exhausted I wouldn’t be so sure, you can’t see her facial expressions.
They’re not getting decent time off. It even said that it was a rare occasion for her to do so.
wtrmlnjuc - February 6, 2012
why arent robots taking over there jobs already?hurry up!
MBMBaMdotcom - February 6, 2012
feel sorry for him but i don’t think the situation is gonna improveanytime soon.
rattletop - February 6, 2012
What a whiny baby. Her grandparents had to survive Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”.
MutualCore - February 6, 2012
I find high hilariously ironic that the same people that would call Microsoft greedy for gasp embedding their OS with a Browser; have absolutely no problem with Apple’s place in this mess…
Critic - February 6, 2012
Anybody that had a problem with Microsoft including IE with Windows is a moron. Pure and simple.
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
would you care to cite an example of this “irony”?
John T Wagner - February 6, 2012
If we really care to improve these workers life conditions, we should buy goods not build in china.
This may mean Samsung going bancrupt in consequence and all people in their factory losing their jobs.
But all discussions about fair and not fair hardly make sense with us sitting in a much more sunny spot than the people building our gadgets.
Personally I somehow have accepted the injustice of an ecomomically globalized world and lost the passion of a younger me trying to fight it. But I honeslty admire the people who try to change that kind of stuff. And yes, I believe mostly the chinese can change their fate themselves, as darwinistic as this may sound.
eigentor - February 6, 2012
That’s just moronic. Did you even think before you posted that? If everyone stopped buying Chinese products, just what exactly do you think would happen to Foxconn’s 1.2 million workers and the tens of millions of other factory workers?
I mean, some people just don’t think. It’ may be counterintuitive, but you are actually HELPING these workers by buying Chinese.
EnerJi - February 6, 2012 via mobile
“I can’t bear it anymore. Everyday is like: I get off from work and I go to bed. I get up in the morning, and I go to work. It is my daily routine and I almost feel like an animal.”
Welcome to Canada/America? Same s***, different part of the world. Different job though, but same sh*tty feeling.
Plazmic Flame - February 6, 2012
You don’t live at your workplace 24/7 do you? Vacations are rare in Foxconn due to high demand of products from foreign companies like Apple, Dell, Microsoft, etc.
wtrmlnjuc - February 6, 2012
I’m sure there are more than a handful of out-of-job workers that would like to have a word with you right about now.
lecti - February 7, 2012
this is exactly what people endured during the early days of industrialization in Britain and the United States. next step is “democratization” for lack of a better word. but unlike those nations, China faces the pressure of having some of the world’s biggest markets being highly dependent on China exporting goods created by cheap labor. so, it’s going to be even more difficult to improve labor conditions. the reality is that the price of goods will have to go up globally and wages would have to increase to offset that, but profits would be lowered. are we prepared to squeeze the wealthy? sadly, the answer is no.
rorrr - February 6, 2012
What happens when China gets to the stage where they want to offshore and take advantage of cheap labor to raise the standard of living, but there is no country poor and populous enough for them to do that in?
What would America do if it suddenly lost places to offshore these types of jobs? Do we go back? Do we open the Workhouses back up?
martin0641 - February 6, 2012
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory
This American Life, Episode 454: Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory
Mike Daisey was a self-described “worshipper in the cult of Mac.” Then he saw some photos from a new iPhone, taken by workers at the factory where it was made. Mike wondered: Who makes all my crap? He traveled to China to find out.
StackPointer - February 6, 2012
patfactorx - February 7, 2012
I’m so sick of this. WTF did everyone expect, dancing magical fairies? It’s a goddamn assembly plant.
lecti - February 7, 2012
We owe it to our beloved consumer electronics industry to stand up, and demand change.
Why can’t they give me an option to pay say $50 more that goes directly to a workers health and safety fund at the factory? Because that would be admitting that there is a problem, and tainting the hand of anyone who doesn’t buy that option. You would feel worse about yourself. The companies we buy from would happily take the burden of that knowledge themselves, so we can continue to enjoy paying them.
But knowing what we know, and with a couple of educated guesses as to what is really going on, we cannot afford to overlook this issue. Electronics are a convenience, and for those of us lucky enough to be able to finance our gadget lust, we can also afford to pay a bit more to ensure fair labour practices.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for gadget lovers to do nothing.
List of OEM’s affiliated with Foxconn.
Acer Inc. (Taiwan)27
Amazon.com (United States)28
Apple Inc. (United States)29
ASRock (Taiwan)[citation needed]
Asus (Taiwan)[citation needed]
Barnes & Noble (United States)[citation needed]
Cisco (United States)30
Dell (United States)31
EVGA Corporation (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)32
Intel (United States)33
IBM (United States)[citation needed]
Lenovo (China)[citation needed]
Microsoft (United States)34
MSI (Taiwan)[citation needed]
Motorola (United States)31
Netgear (United States)[citation needed]
Nintendo (Japan)35
Nokia (Finland)29
Panasonic (Japan)[citation needed]
Samsung (South Korea)36
Sharp (Japan)[citation needed]
Sony (Japan)37
Sony Ericsson (Japan/Sweden)38
Vizio (United States)39
BlackJack - February 7, 2012
I see a lot of comments here bordering on anger about the possible reporting of poor-working conditions in factories such as this one in China…
Several comments seem to surround the whole “hey their life is better than what it was before so…”. Or “you should see what poverty is like here in the States…” or “at least they’re better off than those in North Korea or Ethiopia….”
Here is something that I’m willing to make a bet on. I’m willing to bet that most of those who have making these comments are in the comfort of their own Western homes, offices or outside on their smartphones leaving comments while on a lunch break.
I’m willing to bet that not only have most of these commenters not ever set foot in China but even more importantly, have never set foot in a factory in China and seen the work and daily life conditions of migrants workers.
I say this not only because I am a 36 year old New Yorker who has lived in China for the last 4 years and have done so almost entirely living amongst, spending time with and photographing the people that many of you are charging with being “fortunate”. My job happens to be covering issues in Asia and I have seen more than my fair share so you’ll have to excuse my near-loss of patience for comments like these.
Some of my closest mainland friends are migrant workers and I can assure you that moving away from your small poor village for the first time as a 15 year old and moving down to the south to work in a factory 1500-3000 miles away from home working in said factory everyday just to go back to a small 15-20 sq ft space that you call “home” while working everyday, 7 days a week, 350 days a year with no possibility of taking off when sick, deeply deeply depressed or having a bad family situation without being immediately threatened with being fired is not necessarily what the world generallywould call “fair human treatment”.
These migrants whom build our smartphones, tablets, laptops and other similar devices “regardless” of brand all hover around similar circumstances. Not only this but management and supervisors usually keep workers in line by frequently reminding the workers of how easily they can be replaced and how worthless they are.
Lastly I want to say that working conditions are just a part of the multitude of problems that exist here and other parts of Asia. Environmental conditions, health and education are a few other issues among many. Western companies need to be responsible in a way that few if any are willing to take part in today. For these problems to start to diminish drastically, “western corporations” need to play an “active role” in the management of factories (ie: placing western liaisons on factory floors) and need to pay several more dollars here and there in order to compensate for greater worker rotation. That’s just to start with…
Sounds unlikely? Of course. Sounds like its not our problem? No one ever said it was….
But is it the right thing to do? In my personal and somewhat useless opinion… Absolutely.
**in case my experience is in question here, I’ve also worked in areas such as Trenton, NJ, inner-city areas of Los Angeles, Harlem New York, South Africa, Mongolia, Vietnam and of course China. My work is published in various places such as the WSJ, The Guardian, Geographical, Nuclear Decommissioning Report and so forth.
TrinityR3 - February 7, 2012
Did everyone fail to read the “60 hour work weeks” part? This lady says she wakes up, goes to work, gets off work and goes to bed. Assuming she works 6 days a week, that’s 10 hours per day she is working. She has no commute, she eats right where she lives/works, so it seems that she has plenty of free time. I’m not saying conditions are great, but certainly not as bad as people make them out to be.
courtlandre - February 7, 2012
Ms. Chen might be unhappy, but the line to get employed at Foxconn is longer than lines at Apple Stores on launch day.
uncaughtexception - February 7, 2012
Thanks for contributing to the scrutiny of this company. It needs to continue until they are pressured to do something.
PowerCodfish - February 7, 2012
Is this considered a negative effect of “Technology” in general? With information is coming everywhere, we are living our lives quicker than it was a decade ago. Plenty of physical stores and/or entities struggling in the market. Yes, nowadays, a lot of products/services are offered cheaper online for consumers and more efficient and profitable for the producers than going to the physical store. Yes, it is more convenient to pay using our debit cards rather than going to the bank. With these conveniences and easiness, our lives are literally getting faster(dying young, fast-paced life experiences, not much attention to details). Hoping that we all be aware that we have to act on having a fusion of a decade ago life and today-life for the benefit of the next-generation of homo sapiens race.
koderoid - February 8, 2012
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