Foxconn STILL Awful, Apple Basically Gives No Fucks
17 replies, posted
[quote]Envoyé Spécial, a 60 Minutes-like program from public TV station France 2, went undercover at the Zhengzhou iPhone 5 Foxconn factory recently (within the past two months) and reported many of the same problems the Chinese manufacturer and Apple promised to fix earlier this year. According to the story that aired last night, dorms at the new factory were occupied by workers despite the fact that many were still under construction and had no elevators, electricity or running water -- apparently because builders focused on the production lines at the expense of housing. A Foxconn manager even warned employees on hidden camera not to plug devices into dorms that did have electricity, saying that eight workers were killed in a fire after overloading circuits.
In addition, reporters met lower-paid student employees who were of legal age to work there but had no desire to do so, saying corrupt school administrators illegally told them they'd lose their diplomas if they didn't take a job. Meanwhile, regular workers also claimed that much of their upgraded $290 monthly salary was still being absorbed by the company through housing, insurance and food -- with one claiming he only had $340 left after a year of toil. While that might be due to corrupt businesses in the area, the journalists found that Foxconn also levied numerous charges against employees, including around $7 for a psychological test that's supposed to weed out suicidal candidates. Labor groups claimed that many workers in the region were still putting in up to 150 hours of overtime per month while working up to 90 days straight without a break to make up the shortfall, far in excess of the company's promises.
Envoyé Spécial concludes all this is due to Foxconn's attempt to keep up with iPhone 5 demand at the Apple-focused factory, which one employee said is so difficult to make that the company needs to recruit relentlessly to stem the turnover of frustrated workers. Watchdogs there told French reporters that it's easier to find fresh blood in the provincial region while also shortcutting labor laws, far away from the prying eyes of watchdogs around Shenzhen, the hub of Chinese manufacturing. While Foxconn wouldn't address the above findings, Apple told Envoyé Spécial that its subcontractors were required to provide safe working conditions, dignity and respect to employees.
We've reached out to Foxconn for comment and spoke with Apple ourselves, who gave us the following statement:
[B]Apple is committed to the highest standards of social responsibility across our worldwide supply chain. We insist that all of our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever our products are made.[/B]
French viewers can watch the show in its entirety at the source, or you can check the French-language videos after the break for excerpts.[/quote]
[video=youtube;Xx5feeoE3-8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx5feeoE3-8[/video]
[video=youtube;PaW1MCLaaxA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaW1MCLaaxA[/video]
[video=youtube;ksMb092MorY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksMb092MorY[/video]
Source: [url]http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/14/french-reporters-infiltrate-zhengzhou-foxconn-iphone-5-factory/#continued[/url]
Source (French): [url]http://envoye-special.france2.fr/les-reportages-en-video/foxconn-enquete-sur-la-face-cachee-d%E2%80%99apple-13-decembre-2012-4730.html[/url]
FoxxConn isnt just apple.
It's a huge factory for basically every major tech company.
[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;38832161]FoxxConn isnt just apple.
It's a huge factory for basically every major tech company.[/QUOTE]
If we can trust Wikipedia
[QUOTE=Wikipedia]Major customers of Foxconn include or have included:
Acer Inc. (Taiwan)[40]
Amazon.com (United States)[7]
Apple Inc. (United States)[41]
Cisco (United States)[42]
Dell (United States)[43]
Hewlett-Packard (United States)[44]
Microsoft (United States)[10]
Motorola Mobility (United States)[43]
Nintendo (Japan)[45]
Nokia (Finland)[41]
Samsung Electronics (South Korea)[46]
Sony (Japan)[8]
Toshiba (Japan) [47]
Vizio (United States)[48][/QUOTE]
Apple and several others including Foxconn should be sure that workers are treated well.
As wealthy americans/europeans it's pretty easy for us to go to any low-paid job in a country that isn't the USA or UK and declare it to be 'awful' 'dreadful' etc.
The same working conditions are most likely present in the many sweatshops where the clothes you're sitting in right now are manufactured.
Yes, poor working conditions is a sad state of affairs, however these countries would practically not exist were they not supplying cheap labour - and the workers would be without jobs, unable to survive, and probably dead. Also, the USA and Europe would start producing their own low-paid labour, driving down minimum wages and forcing our citizens into poorly paid jobs and the terrible working conditions that follow.
[QUOTE=The golden;38832191]Samsung also got busted using under-paid and over-worked workers. (16 hour shifts, 2 days off a month, no weekends).
It's a simple fact that these manufacturers are so goddamn cheap. They pay so little in manufacturing costs and then turn a gigantic profit on the assembled units they sell. They're not going to budge even a millimeter until people start putting their foot down and saying enough is enough. How many times does it need to be shown that yelling at these companies does jack-shit?[/QUOTE]
pretty much they will only listen when they start to lose money
Apple attempted multiple times to make the situation better but still, the company is well, it belongs to Foxconn and not Apple so they can revert shit right back to what it was once Apple backed off.
[url]http://bgr.com/2012/02/17/apple-device-manufacturer-foxconn-increases-wages-for-workers/[/url]
[url]http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/29/apple-and-foxconn-agree-to-drastically-improve-working-condition/[/url]
[url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/aug/21/apple-manufacturer-foxconn-improves-safety[/url]
[QUOTE=The golden;38833004]Did they?
Did they REALLY?[/QUOTE]
Apple isn't the only one too. Bet you didn't see that coming.
[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;38832161]FoxxConn isnt just apple.
It's a huge factory for basically every major tech company.[/QUOTE]
AFAIK Apple is their number one customer. Google goes out of stock on the day they release Nexus devices, Apple manages to still have stock for a few days, despite having a LOT more demand. Foxconn serves many tech companies, but Apple is the most demanding one
Apple and the rest of Foxconn's customers genuinely don't give a fuck about the workers unless it damages their PR. As long as nobody sees it, they don't care.
No shit nobody cares, the only reason your overpriced electronics are so cheap is because of the people who labour for pennies in Chinese factories.
[QUOTE=laserguided;38834458]No shit nobody cares, the only reason your overpriced electronics are so cheap is because of the people who labour for pennies in Chinese factories.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=laserguided;38834458]overpriced[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=laserguided;38834458]cheap[/QUOTE]
???
Also yeah I wouldn't mind paying more for electronics if it meant better working conditions/pay for them
[QUOTE=Tacosheller;38834740]???
Also yeah I wouldn't mind paying more for electronics if it meant better working conditions/pay for them[/QUOTE]
Except you don't realise the extreme margins involved.
You'd be paying literally $2000 for a tablet you can get for $500.
[QUOTE=The golden;38833004]Did they?
Did they REALLY?[/QUOTE]
Believe it or not, apple isn't the devil and they're run by humans, apple doesn't like the working conditions of those factories and wanted to help out but couldn't cause it's not their company
In all fact I'd like some of you to face up to Samsungs mistreatment where they tried getting underage workers to work for them, you don't have to look far either just a simple google search with "samsung underage workers foxconn" should get you there
Hell, [url=http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/pdf/Samsung%20Report%200904-v3.pdf]Samsung themselves do it in their own factories[/url].
[quote=Link]reported cases of excessive overtime (exceeding 100 hours per month) and exhausting working conditions, with employees being made to stand for up to 12 hours for a single shift.[/quote]
I know right he was such a shitposter
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