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Chinese iPad Factory Staff Forced To Sign 'No Suicide' Pledge
An anonymous reader writes "Employees at Foxconn facilities in China, used to manufacture the iPhone and iPad, were forced to sign a pledge not to commit suicide after over a dozen staff killed themselves over the last 16 months. The revelation is the latest in a series of findings about the treatment of workers at Foxconn plants, where staff often work six 12-hour shifts a week, 98 hours of overtime in a month, and live in dormitories that look and feel like prison blocks."
The vast majority of people who commit suicide are not thinking rationally at the time. No pledges, no clauses that say family members will only sue for the minimum monetary compensation allowable, will make a difference to someone not in their right mind.
When someone says, "Any fool can see
They are very annoyed that they have to admit their products are built elsewhere. If you take a look on any device it'll always say where it was made or assembled. That is required by law. Almost all devices, that's all it says about that. However Apple stuff? Right before that they have to note "Designed in California by Apple." Reason is they want to try and deflect from the "Made in China" part. They don't want their Mac to be just another thing made in China.
Well, that makes the stories particularly juicy to the press when they relate to Apple and China. Most companies aren't bothered. They stamp the country of assembly on the box and call it good. So calling them out on it does nothing. You call out MSI on their motherboards being made in China and they'll say "Ummm yes, yes they are. Says so right on the board."
Also there's the fact that it seems Apple puts additional secrecy pressure on Foxconn and that their employees have been subject to additional restrictions and scrutiny due to Apple leaks. You don't see that with other products Foxconn makes. They don't have to keep everything super secret since companies don't put on the big show and their products are usually known well in advance of launch.
You are pretty much right. The Foxconn factory in Shenzhen has about 450,000 employees (more than in press accounts). There are grocery stores, restaurants, schools, hospitals, etc. inside the campus. The article and header is therefore rather misleading, it's like a small city, with a small city's suicide rate. The tasks are hand assembly, the jobs the USA press is upset about losing. I'm not sure I'd be cut out for that. The actual name of the company is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, the factory assembles for a LOT of companies, not just Apple. Expect them to come out with their own brands soon - following Acer (of Wistron) and Lenovo, they are going to outgrow being contract manufacturers and then maybe they'll make more money to pay their employees.
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