Thursday, January 12, 2012 4:45:07 PM
Xbox assembly workers in China threaten mass suicide over jobs dispute
Foxconn Technology Group said it would close the production line for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 consoles at its plant in the central city of Wuhan.
Unrest at Foxconn Technology plant defused but worker discontent highlights widespread unrest in China's economy
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 January 2012 12.37 EST
Dozens of workers assembling Xbox video game consoles climbed to a factory dormitory roof, and some threatened to jump to their deaths, in a dispute over jobs that was defused but highlights growing labour unrest as China's economy slows.
The dispute boiled over last week after contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group said it would close the production line for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 consoles at its plant in the central city of Wuhan and transfer some workers to other jobs, workers and Foxconn said Thursday.
Workers reached by telephone said Foxconn initially offered severance pay for those that wanted to leave rather than be transferred, but then reneged, angering the workers; Foxconn, in a statement, said transfers were offered, not severance, and only to some workers.
The workers climbed to the top of the six-story dormitory on 3 January and threatened to jump before Wuhan city officials persuaded them to desist and return to work, according to the workers and accounts online. The workers gave varying estimates of the numbers involved in the strike, from 80 to 200, and photos posted online showed dozens of people crowding the roof of the boxy concrete building.
"Actually none of them were going to jump. They were there for the compensation. But the government and the company officials were just as afraid, because if even one of them jumped, the consequences would be hard to imagine," said Wang Jungang, an equipment engineer in the Xbox production line, who left the plant earlier this month.
The fracas is the latest labor trouble to hit Foxconn, a unit of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co that makes iPads and iPhones for Apple Inc as well as Xboxes and other gadgets, helping consumer electronics brands hold down costs. Its massive China plants are run with military-like discipline, which labour rights activists say contributed to spate of suicides in 2010.
Foxconn said that it offered transfers to some workers at current pay, without elaborating on what others were offered. It said that 150 demanded severance and not all of them participated in the rooftop protest. "It is our understanding that certain individuals threatened to jump from the building if their demands were not met," the statement said.
Strikes and other job actions have risen in recent months across China as factories cope with rising costs, scarce credit and declining orders from Europe, the United States and domestic companies. Complicating matters is the approaching Lunar New Year, a time when many of the migrant workers who man factories quit jobs to return home temporarily before looking for better paying employment.
Foxconn's Wuhan plant employs 32,000 people. The site previously had suicides or attempted ones a couple years back, prompting the government to take over the operations of the dormitories, said Wang, the equipment engineer.
After the rooftop protest, Microsoft said in a statement that it investigated, finding that the dispute centered on Foxconn's staffing and transfer policies, not working conditions. "After the protest, the majority of workers chose to return to work. A smaller portion of those employees elected to resign," the statement said.
Ultimately, Foxconn said, 45 of the employees resigned from the company while the rest chose to stay. It did not say whether the resigning workers were given compensation. Wang, the engineer, said he received $4,700 (30,000 yuan) in compensation but that was because his supervisor helped him.
© 2012 The Associated Press
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/12/xbox-assembly-workers-threaten-mass-suicide
===
Why Foxconn is crucial to the tech industry
A mass suicide threat by Chinese electronics workers has again focused global attention on Foxconn, the giant manufacturer that does the dirty work of actually making the shiny gadgets designed in the West.
4:06PM GMT 12 Jan 2012
Around 150 workers at a Foxconn factory in Wuhan spent two days on the roof [ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9006988/Mass-suicide-protest-at-Apple-manufacturer-Foxconn-factory.html ] in a protest over plans to move them to a new production line.
Their threat to jump en masse recalls a cluster of suicides at Foxconn in 2010, which prompted serious concern from its customers in the West, who include Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and HP.
Foxconn is the world's largest electronics manufacturer, and employs more than a million people.
It is one of very few firms in the world with the expertise and scale to build cutting-edge devices such as the iPhone, Kindle and Xbox 360 at low cost. As such the technology industry cannot operate without its legions of low-paid assembly line workers.
“After talking with workers and management, it is our understanding that the worker protest was related to staffing assignments and transfer policies, not working conditions,” Microsoft said this week about the latest incident of staff unrest.
Western technology firms have taken a closer interest in how Foxconn treats its staff in recent years, as stories of mistreatment and suicides have attracted global headlines. After the 2010 suicides, Apple pressure the firm to boost wages and improve staff welfare progams.
The fact remains, however, that the large profit margins Apple and its rivals enjoy are based on low-cost labour provided by Foxconn.
*
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*
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9010649/Why-Foxconn-is-crucial-to-the-tech-industry.html [with comments]
===
(linked in) http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=70637175 and http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=70623738 and preceding and following
Foxconn Technology Group said it would close the production line for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 consoles at its plant in the central city of Wuhan.
Unrest at Foxconn Technology plant defused but worker discontent highlights widespread unrest in China's economy
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 January 2012 12.37 EST
Dozens of workers assembling Xbox video game consoles climbed to a factory dormitory roof, and some threatened to jump to their deaths, in a dispute over jobs that was defused but highlights growing labour unrest as China's economy slows.
The dispute boiled over last week after contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group said it would close the production line for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 consoles at its plant in the central city of Wuhan and transfer some workers to other jobs, workers and Foxconn said Thursday.
Workers reached by telephone said Foxconn initially offered severance pay for those that wanted to leave rather than be transferred, but then reneged, angering the workers; Foxconn, in a statement, said transfers were offered, not severance, and only to some workers.
The workers climbed to the top of the six-story dormitory on 3 January and threatened to jump before Wuhan city officials persuaded them to desist and return to work, according to the workers and accounts online. The workers gave varying estimates of the numbers involved in the strike, from 80 to 200, and photos posted online showed dozens of people crowding the roof of the boxy concrete building.
"Actually none of them were going to jump. They were there for the compensation. But the government and the company officials were just as afraid, because if even one of them jumped, the consequences would be hard to imagine," said Wang Jungang, an equipment engineer in the Xbox production line, who left the plant earlier this month.
The fracas is the latest labor trouble to hit Foxconn, a unit of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co that makes iPads and iPhones for Apple Inc as well as Xboxes and other gadgets, helping consumer electronics brands hold down costs. Its massive China plants are run with military-like discipline, which labour rights activists say contributed to spate of suicides in 2010.
Foxconn said that it offered transfers to some workers at current pay, without elaborating on what others were offered. It said that 150 demanded severance and not all of them participated in the rooftop protest. "It is our understanding that certain individuals threatened to jump from the building if their demands were not met," the statement said.
Strikes and other job actions have risen in recent months across China as factories cope with rising costs, scarce credit and declining orders from Europe, the United States and domestic companies. Complicating matters is the approaching Lunar New Year, a time when many of the migrant workers who man factories quit jobs to return home temporarily before looking for better paying employment.
Foxconn's Wuhan plant employs 32,000 people. The site previously had suicides or attempted ones a couple years back, prompting the government to take over the operations of the dormitories, said Wang, the equipment engineer.
After the rooftop protest, Microsoft said in a statement that it investigated, finding that the dispute centered on Foxconn's staffing and transfer policies, not working conditions. "After the protest, the majority of workers chose to return to work. A smaller portion of those employees elected to resign," the statement said.
Ultimately, Foxconn said, 45 of the employees resigned from the company while the rest chose to stay. It did not say whether the resigning workers were given compensation. Wang, the engineer, said he received $4,700 (30,000 yuan) in compensation but that was because his supervisor helped him.
© 2012 The Associated Press
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/12/xbox-assembly-workers-threaten-mass-suicide
===
Why Foxconn is crucial to the tech industry
A mass suicide threat by Chinese electronics workers has again focused global attention on Foxconn, the giant manufacturer that does the dirty work of actually making the shiny gadgets designed in the West.
4:06PM GMT 12 Jan 2012
Around 150 workers at a Foxconn factory in Wuhan spent two days on the roof [ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9006988/Mass-suicide-protest-at-Apple-manufacturer-Foxconn-factory.html ] in a protest over plans to move them to a new production line.
Their threat to jump en masse recalls a cluster of suicides at Foxconn in 2010, which prompted serious concern from its customers in the West, who include Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and HP.
Foxconn is the world's largest electronics manufacturer, and employs more than a million people.
It is one of very few firms in the world with the expertise and scale to build cutting-edge devices such as the iPhone, Kindle and Xbox 360 at low cost. As such the technology industry cannot operate without its legions of low-paid assembly line workers.
“After talking with workers and management, it is our understanding that the worker protest was related to staffing assignments and transfer policies, not working conditions,” Microsoft said this week about the latest incident of staff unrest.
Western technology firms have taken a closer interest in how Foxconn treats its staff in recent years, as stories of mistreatment and suicides have attracted global headlines. After the 2010 suicides, Apple pressure the firm to boost wages and improve staff welfare progams.
The fact remains, however, that the large profit margins Apple and its rivals enjoy are based on low-cost labour provided by Foxconn.
*
Related Articles
'Mass suicide' protest at Apple manufacturer Foxconn
11 Jan 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9006988/Mass-suicide-protest-at-Apple-manufacturer-Foxconn-factory.html
Inside Foxconn's suicide factory
27 May 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7773011/A-look-inside-the-Foxconn-suicide-factory.html
Explosion 'kills two at iPad factory'
20 May 2011
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8527416/Explosion-kills-two-at-Foxconn-iPad-2-factory-in-China.html
iPhone maker faces fresh suicide fears as 14th worker dies
06 Aug 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7929938/Foxconn-faces-fresh-suicide-fears-as-14th-worker-dies.html
Foxconn 'suicide factory' raises pay 70pc
07 Jun 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7807903/Foxconn-suicide-factory-raises-pay-70pc.html
Huawei faces down spying claims
19 Jun 2011
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/8582695/Chinas-technology-superpower-faces-down-spying-claims.html
*
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9010649/Why-Foxconn-is-crucial-to-the-tech-industry.html [with comments]
===
(linked in) http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=70637175 and http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=70623738 and preceding and following
Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
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