[Newsbot]

Title: Chinese iPad workers reportedly forced to sign 'no suicide' pledge
Category: Strange
Posted By: Scape
Date: 2011-05-06 20:26:19

[Public_Domain]

[Freakinoldguy]

Apple Good.....................Microsoft Evil.

[commanderkai]

Yeah, I thought Microsoft was the "EVIL" computer company. Apple seems to be pretty bastardly, while making their stuff overpriced all the same.

[andyt]

If you commit suicide, you will be fired. We have a firm policy on that.

Hey, the way things are going, it's coming to Canada.

[PostFactum]

1,5 milliards and they don't allow suicide, damn, they are conquering the world

[GreenTiger]

That is bad when a govt needs to force its people to sign "no Suicide Pledges". North Korea on the other hand couldn't care less if their people killed themselves.

[Curtman]

andyt andyt:

If you commit suicide, you will be fired. We have a firm policy on that.

Hey, the way things are going, it's coming to Canada.

This was a story a few years ago involving the company Foxconn. I guess it's only new because Foxconn makes iProducts for Apple. It's not about being fired. The reason these people are committing suicide is so that their families can sue the company, and get more money from them than they would earn in many many years of working there. The contract limits the damages that families can sue for.

$1:

And they were made to promise that if they did, their families would only seek the legal minimum in damages.

[Brenda]

Curtman Curtman:

andyt andyt:

If you commit suicide, you will be fired. We have a firm policy on that.

Hey, the way things are going, it's coming to Canada.

This was a story a few years ago involving the company Foxconn. I guess it's only new because Foxconn makes iProducts for Apple. It's not about being fired. The reason these people are committing suicide is so that their families can sue the company, and get more money from them than they would earn in many many years of working there. The contract limits the damages that families can sue for.

$1:

And they were made to promise that if they did, their families would only seek the legal minimum in damages.

And rightfully so. You shouldn't (or your family shouldn't) be able to sue the company at all. If you die of an accident at work, fine. But because you choose to jump off a bridge? Nah.

[Curtman]

New Report Details Onerous, Illegal Working Conditions At Foxconn

$1:

Labor laws in China dictate that overtime should not exceed 36 hours per month. The report says that workers are usually subjected to 50 to 80 hours of overtime a month. In the Chengdu facility — where Foxconn employees put together the iPad — staff could expect a grueling 80 to 100 hours of overtime, on top of the 174 regular work hours.
Staff members interviewed said that working overtime was voluntary, but making up the extra hours was necessary to earn a regular salary.

A typical day for a worker at Chengdu consists of waking up at 6:45 a.m. for a 7:40 a.m. start at work assembly, before working all day until 8:00 p.m. Staff is often bullied into moving directly from regular work into overtime hours without a break, and workers are often punished if they don’t.

Staff members — who aren’t allowed to talk, carry a mobile phone or even sit down — are not just punished if they mess up: They’re humiliated. “If they made [a] mistake, they had to write a confession letter and hand it to the supervisor,” the report says. “If the mistake is serious, the worker has to read the confession letter in front of his other colleagues.”

I won't even pretend to know what life is like for the working poor in China. But clearly something is wrong if Apple is making 4.1 billion dollars in net profit per quarter, but the people who make this crap find it more economical to kill themselves.

[Brenda]

Curtman Curtman:

New Report Details Onerous, Illegal Working Conditions At Foxconn

$1:

Labor laws in China dictate that overtime should not exceed 36 hours per month. The report says that workers are usually subjected to 50 to 80 hours of overtime a month. In the Chengdu facility — where Foxconn employees put together the iPad — staff could expect a grueling 80 to 100 hours of overtime, on top of the 174 regular work hours.
Staff members interviewed said that working overtime was voluntary, but making up the extra hours was necessary to earn a regular salary.

A typical day for a worker at Chengdu consists of waking up at 6:45 a.m. for a 7:40 a.m. start at work assembly, before working all day until 8:00 p.m. Staff is often bullied into moving directly from regular work into overtime hours without a break, and workers are often punished if they don’t.

Staff members — who aren’t allowed to talk, carry a mobile phone or even sit down — are not just punished if they mess up: They’re humiliated. “If they made [a] mistake, they had to write a confession letter and hand it to the supervisor,” the report says. “If the mistake is serious, the worker has to read the confession letter in front of his other colleagues.”

I won't even pretend to know what life is like for the working poor in China. But clearly something is wrong if Apple is making 4.1 billion dollars in net profit per quarter, but the people who make this crap find it more economical to kill themselves.

Hey, it is none of our business what the business makes. Just like Timmies owners, they can pay their workers minimum wage and we can not complain.

[herbie]

Before everyone is deluded into thinking this is a brand issue, Foxconn also produces the internals of most Netbooks, PC motherboards and peripherals.
Used to use Foxconn cases, motherboards, PCI network and wireless cards exclusively on our line of PCs. For a while they were more reliable and cheaper than Asus boards.

They could turn it into a marketing positive. Our people are willing to die to make you a good product!

[Freakinoldguy]

And here we thought mainland China was gonna take over Taiwan but it's actually the other way around.

[Public_Domain]

[Curtman]

Foxconn to replace workers with 1 million robots in 3 years

$1:

Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn will replace some of its workers with 1 million robots in three years to cut rising labor expenses and improve efficiency, said Terry Gou, founder and chairman of the company, late Friday.