Foxconn worker falls to death in China

Foxconn worker falls to death in China

ca.news.yahoo.com

A Foxconn worker fell to his death in China, the company which assembles products for Apple said Thursday, following a series of fatalities that sparked concern about conditions at its plants.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Activists blamed tough working conditions, leading to calls for better treatment of the company's staff

Its going to be eventually blamed on Apple as previously been attempted by FoxConn. I believe this is a Chinese Government issue and not necessarily the company willing to invest in their manufacturing sector to make affordable gadgets for the rest of the world. Instead of addressing the issue, the company plans to invest in additional robots by a huge number sometime next year.

ca.news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by hp1229


Yes the Chinese government allows for it.

And you don't think apple is aware of the conditions their products are made?

Apple chose to allow it, as a expense savings.

Which is passed on to the consumer, who knowing this continues to buy the products.

Every company does this, but people want there goods at walmarts cheep.

Its all our faults.

"Fell?"

OK, well, perhaps that is the case. And I know we are very sensitive to this issue because of the 'performance' piece about the working conditions in China which was mistakenly and repeatedly sensationalized here in the US as FACT.

NPR Retracts Episode Claiming Apple's Factory Abuse
This American Life Retracts Foxconn Report: ‘Daisey Lied’
'This American Life' retracts Foxconn report
An acclaimed Apple critic made up the details
'This American Life' retracts episode about Foxconn's iPad factories, says it was 'partially fabricated'

And so many more.....

But since we have to suspect everything (sadly we do) that we are "told" by reporters who work for media outlets whose owners have some stake in the opinions and influences the "news" has on the market; we need to wonder why this is being 're-discovered' by the press at this time.

reply to post by benrl


It is not MY fault. I do not buy APPLE products.

reply to post by groingrinder


Do you use any of these products?

All their customers they build cheep electronics for.



Acer Inc. (Taiwan)[37]
Amazon.com (United States)[7]
Apple Inc. (United States)[38]
Cisco (United States)[39]
Dell (United States)[40]
Hewlett-Packard (United States)[41]
Intel (United States)[42]
Microsoft (United States)[9]
Motorola Mobility (United States)[40]
Nintendo (Japan)[43]
Nokia (Finland)[38]
Samsung Electronics (South Korea)[44]
Sony (Japan)[8]
Toshiba (Japan) [45]
Vizio (United States)[46]


If so than yes, you are.

reply to post by benrl


Darn! We have a Sony television.

He fell or jumped..?

Originally posted by dayve
He fell or jumped..?

He most likely committed suicide, thats how bad the company treats its employees. Remember, China is a communist country and they allowed Foxxconn employees the right to unionize...that how badly the employees are treated there.

Foxconn has almost a million employees. With such a huge number, it is statistically guaranteed that there will be suicides from time to time. According to wiki,suicide rate among Foxconn employees is lower than average in China.

en.wikipedia.org...

I'm all for better working conditions. But isn't this story about something else.

The headline makes it sound like he died in an accident on the job.

When in fact he died at his home from apparent suicide.

ca.news.yahoo.com...

Taiwan tech giant Foxconn, which assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia, has come under the spotlight after suicides and labour unrest at its Chinese plants since 2010.

At least 13 employees died in apparent suicides in 2010, followed by several others in 2011. Activists blamed tough working conditions, leading to calls for better treatment of the company's staff.

Although Foxconn denied the accusations, it raised wages by nearly 70 percent at its China plants in 2010.

Originally posted by Maslo
Foxconn has almost a million employees. With such a huge number, it is statistically guaranteed that there will be suicides from time to time. According to wiki,suicide rate among Foxconn employees is lower than average in China.

en.wikipedia.org...

Interesting edit date for that page...

This page was last modified on 14 June 2012 at 20:49

Originally posted by nerbot

Originally posted by Maslo
Foxconn has almost a million employees. With such a huge number, it is statistically guaranteed that there will be suicides from time to time. According to wiki,suicide rate among Foxconn employees is lower than average in China.

en.wikipedia.org...

Interesting edit date for that page...

This page was last modified on 14 June 2012 at 20:49

Excellent eye!

That particular edit points to a source that dates to May 2010. So it may be true... but what was added today, comes from a dated source.

Foxconn employs about 800,000 people, roughly half of whom work and live in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong. The firm operates a huge industrial park there, which it calls Foxconn City, with 15 multi-storey manufacturing buildings, each dedicated to one customer. This is where the suicides took place. Two other employees at the facility have been severely injured in recent suicide attempts; the company says it has averted a further 20.

The toll (a dozen this year) is lower than the suicide rate among the general population in China. But the deaths have raised questions about working conditions in electronics manufacturing in general and in particular at Foxconn, which keeps its customers secret, rarely opens its plants to outsiders and routinely ignores press inquiries.

from The Economist... www.economist.com...

No "by line"... and only attributed to "Hong Kong" .... can anyone say "Public Relations?" Sure... I knew you could.

Originally posted by dayve
He fell or jumped..?

Or pushed?

This is sad. Why do countries allow this. A million employees at Foxconn? How about bring the company to the United States and employ 1 million people without jobs.

reply to post by Maxmars


Thanks for the clarification. It was the first thing I looked at when I found the page and it set alarm bells ringing but other than point it out I didn't know how to follow it up. Nice teamwork.

I think you may be right, a very quick edit by P.R. to deflect initial flak from this latest news in the saga.

Originally posted by CannibalCorpse1982
This is sad. Why do countries allow this. A million employees at Foxconn? How about bring the company to the United States and employ 1 million people without jobs.

It would take quite a few million US employees to do the same work as 1 million Chinese I think. They ARE the world's best producers.

If you really don't like the situation, don't buy ANY MORE JUNK! But America leads the way in having more than it needs so in a sense it has created it's own unemployment by being such good consumers, happy to buy whatever is made. China (and others) are happy to make whatever is wanted.

If you want to change something, the best way is to start at the source. In this case, not foxconn, not the companies they produce for, not the Chinese workers, but the consumers of the goods who fuel the demand.

Time for them to update their slogan?

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and the Apple employee doesn't fall far from the factory."

Edit: Maybe he was behind on Western news, and upon hearing that Steve Jobs died, descended into a deep depression and couldn't take it anymore.

Originally posted by Xaphan
Time for them to update their slogan?

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and the Apple employee doesn't fall far from the factory."

funny but definitely sad in a way that the poor employee had to die to escape the tough working conditions in that country.