An employee of Foxconn, maker of Apple Inc's iPhone, jumped to his death late on Wednesday, bringing the total of such a

[Speedy]

Nothing about whether it was because of Apple's continued contract with AT&T.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64R0U920100528

[volcs0]

In other news...

...Foxconn, which has about 420,000 employees at its base in Shenzhen...

Wow.

[TheTominator]

They make other things besides Apple's iPhone.

Wikipedia wrote:
Foxconn is the largest manufacturer of electronics and computer components worldwide and mainly manufactures on contract to other companies. Among other things, Foxconn produces the Mac mini, the iPod, the iPad, and the iPhone for Apple Inc.; Intel-branded motherboards for Intel Corp.; various orders for American computer manufacturers Dell and Hewlett-Packard; motherboards for UK computer manufacturer Zoostorm; the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 for Sony; the Wii for Nintendo; the Xbox 360 for Microsoft, cell phones for Motorola, the Amazon Kindle, and Cisco equipment.

[Lux Interior]

Also nothing about how it fits with the nationwide suicide rate:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/foremski/media...-risk/1356

Need hits? Put iPhone in your article's title.

[Grumpyguy]

I hope this doesn't get sent to the other side, but people get upset because, say an oil leak harms the eco system.

They get upset because of animal cruelty....

But they don't give a rats rear end about terrible working conditions in China, plus they can't seem to couple that with the exportation of our industries.

The moral cost of doing the right thing would of course be to build the damn things here and pay a little more to buy the iPhone/iPod/iMac and so on.

Just saying....but that Apple make 28% profit margins rather than 24% and that the iPhone costs $199 instead of $269 at AT&T is just so much more important than some Chinese peasants taking a dive...

[NewtonMP2100]

.....'member what soylent green is.....???


....this is similiar (really like a movie).....something they put in iPhones makes people loose their..................

[Black]

Grumpyguy wrote:
I hope this doesn't get sent to the other side, but people get upset because, say an oil leak harms the eco system.

They get upset because of animal cruelty....

But they don't give a rats rear end about terrible working conditions in China, plus they can't seem to couple that with the exportation of our industries.

The moral cost of doing the right thing would of course be to build the damn things here and pay a little more to buy the iPhone/iPod/iMac and so on.

Just saying....but that Apple make 28% profit margins rather than 24% and that the iPhone costs $199 instead of $269 at AT&T is just so much more important than some Chinese peasants taking a dive...

Not to defend bad work conditions, but grumpyguy, there was a post immediately before yours by "lux interior" that made a very good point . . . maybe your posts crossed?

[MEG]

Lux Interior wrote:
Also nothing about how it fits with the nationwide suicide rate:

That's totally wrong Lux.

According to the World Health Organization China's avg suicide rate is 28 per 100,000 people so in order to fit the national rate, FoxConn (at 420,000 employees) would have approx 112 suicides per year and would have had 46 suicides this year so far. I guess FoxConn should be praised for providing better conditions than average

[Wailer]

I don't see how making Apple products elsewhere and shutting Foxconn down and leaving these 420k workers unemployed is going to make this better for them.

Business "exploits" by nature. As long as the workers are free enough to go back to doing what they did before at 1/2 the wage they earn now, I don't see a problem.

The real problem is the rat race that is going on in China. Making money and "getting ahead" has become an unhealthy obsession there.

[cbelt3]

MEG- BINGO ! Well quoted.

Most people in the US really have no idea what working life is in China. I haven't been there either, but I've gotten firsthand explanations from others.

Envision this:

You are a Chinese worker in a factory.

You live in a dormitory attached to the factory. You share a small apartment in a highrise walkup building (no elevator) with up to four other people. You probably sleep in bunk beds. You own two outfits- one to wear, and one that is drying because you washed it in your sink the night before. There is no heat or air conditioning in the apartment- you're happy to have running water and electricity.

You eat all your meals in the company cafeteria, 7 days a week. You may shop for what few things you need or want in the company store, which is also in the factory compound. For leisure you and your roommates may own a TV. You may be sending remittances home to your family in whichever province you came from. If you're not Han, you probably get harassed a lot, or not even hired (yes, Chinese culture is very racist).

You work on an assembly line style area, under tight supervision. Your supervisor is typically a 'theory X' boss, and will happily yell and strike you if he's pissed at you. And yes, he is usually a guy. And yes, he gets 'favors' from the women that work for him. Your environmental working conditions will vary. If the company is owned by a Chinese company, the working conditions will generally be sub-standard. If it's a 'foreign' company, the working conditions will generally be better, because foreign companies are held to a higher standard that Chinese companies, who know who to bribe. Your work environment is neither heated nor airconditioned. You may get a break for a quick lunch in the cafeteria, but that's usually about it. Again- it depends on how well your employer bribes the regulatory officials in your area.

And in the end, you're happy to have this job, because it's still a hell of a lot easier than working on the farm.