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Foxconn's Other Dirty Secret: the World's Largest "Internship" Program
pigrabbitbear writes "In light of a series of reports that have emerged over the years, one of many dark stories of suicide now points at one of the lesser-known but more unsavory aspects of Foxconn's much-criticized labor practices: with the help of schools and government officials, the company runs a massive internship program built not on voluntary education but on 'compelled' factory work for teenage students. According to Ross Perlin, author of Intern Nation."
I'm looking forward to working my way up. Some of the old timers have made it all the way up to the roof they said.
So, the next time you see an internship "coworker" in your company, do the math, and get the hell out of this sweat-shop.
One day you might get paid!
It's so shiny and Apple claims it really, really cool.
You mean nokia, HTC, moto, sony, samsung, et al aren't Foxconn's customers?
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
I feel incredibly guilty for not researching the company behind my Kindle before giving them my money. Of course, I'd feel even guiltier if I were reading this post on my Kindle.
Is this a Bill Clinton program?
Close, but no cigar.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Wont happen, too much money from corporations being used to loby against it. China on the other hand has massive import tariffs for US goods. So companies more or less have to make stuff over there if they want to see in China.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Okay, now *that's* funny.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
"In light of a series of reports that have emerged over the years, one of many dark stories of suicide now points at one of the lesser-known but more unsavory aspects of Foxconn's much-criticized labor practices: with the help of schools and government officials, the company runs a massive internship program built not on voluntary education but on 'compelled' factory work for teenage students. According to Ross Perlin, author of Intern Nation
Which is also called slavery.
This is yet another reason why we shouldnt be manufacturing in hellholes that will bend over backwards for business, but snap the backs of the people that work for them (should they ask for more than the company approved allotment of freedom).
Perhaps US & EU manufacturing isn't a bad idea after all.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
I was with you right up till the iTard line... Foxconn and really china's labor practices in general are horrific, but it isn't apple to blame, it is the entirety of silicon valley, and possibly some blame can go on the U.S government and their lobyests for more or less doing nothing to discourage companies from off-shoring everything that is humanly possible to do.
Makes sense. Apple makes a HUGE margin on their devices and has $80B+ in the bank. They could certainly afford to build them right here in America, and still make a nice profit, but they choose not to.
Far as I know you are correct. In fact HTC started as a third party manufacturer for other companies before making their own products.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
the whole summary is linkbait. Follow the articles... the internship program may be unpaid (like internships in the US mind you), but it's not "unvoluntary". From rtfa:
* "Liu had traveled hundreds of miles for a chance to get hands-on experience working for China’s leading electronics maker."
* "Liu’s internship — which he landed through a labor placement firm in the nearby city of Guangzhou — would have included housing, food, and a small stipend estimated to be about half the salary of a typical factory worker"
if you actually read the text, the worst you can say is that many Chinese schools require internships in order to graduate. This is probably on par with US vocational schools. So let's hold off on the "zOMG won't somebody think of the childrenz!"
... but it isn't apple to blame
Correct. Their shareholders deserve the blame. Apple's just a corporation. Own Apple stock? You're a slaver. Buy Apple products? You enrich slave owners. FOAD.
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
You read this part, right?
The Henan provincial government declared that 100,000 vocational and university students would be sent on three-month internships at Foxconn’s Shenzhen plants.
At one vocational school in Zhengzhou, wrote Hu Yinan, students were informed of the government’s requirement after the summer semester had begun, and that “all those who refuse would have to drop out.”
You seem to have missed this part: "This isn’t the venerated internship of the privileged college student, building valuable work and life skills with school credit and on-the-job training in place of pay – if such an internship even still exists. Historically, Foxconn’s low-wage internships involve essential factory labor by poor students, some of whose areas of study have nothing to do with electronics, and turn the “school credit” idea on its head. According to SACOM, vocational students, including those studying journalism, tourism and languages, have had practically no choice but to participate in such internships if they want to graduate from their schools. As temporary workers, they have little legal protection or recourse in the event of injury, over-work, or underpayment. And if they complain, they could jeopardize their diplomas."
but it isn't apple to blame
I disagree. Apple is contracting with Foxconn to churn out millions of iDevices. Regardless of what other Silicon Valley companies are doing, Apple is the one that is dealing with FoxConn. If they think that the workers deserve better treatment, they have it in their power to see that their demands are met; if they aren't, then they can contract with someone who will. "I'm just following the status quo," is a poor defense.
I work for a company that deals with a lot of contractors. If a contractor isn't living up to our expectations (usually safety related), we find a new company to do that work. If they're not living up to our standards, they don't come on our site. Our safety numbers reflect this. (I think our bottom line benefits, too, but those numbers are a little trickier to pin down.)
I think that a company's handling of contractors reflects their values. Apple (and I guess the rest of Silicon Valley) values money more than good working conditions.
Uh you did know that china had been communist for 41 years prior to tianamen square? Right?
The chinese people haven't given up and the china of 2012 is better than the china of 1989. There is more civil society
in china now than there was 20 years ago. China still has a long way to go but things have changed. Do you even think
20 years ago we would have even heard about what was going on in these factories???
Cutting off china won't make china free, it will just make it isolated like we did with North Korea and Cuba.
Embargoing Cuba has worked out great...oh wait Fidel Castro is still in power.
They're sending people on "Jobseekers Allowance" into "internships" with the likes of Tesco (our own national Wal-Mart), on the promise of gaining useful job experience which will gain them employment. So they stack shelves for the duration of their internship, which gives them literally zero marketable experience (and indeed, probably damages their prospects - who wants to hire a shelf-stacker for anything less menial?)
If they leave after a short "cooling off period", their benefits will be cut off, removing even the social safety net provided by the state. While Tesco have been recruiting unpaid interns on a voluntary basis for some years now, this recent trend is essentially state-sponsored slavery, and sounds eerily like the complicity of the Chinese local government in these Foxconn internships.
While Foxconn is an apparent beneficiary, the actual responsible party is the Chinese government. It is not stated whether Foxconn had any involvement in legislating the policy. The Henan provincial government is reported as having mandated internships as a requirement of completing a course of study, while undefined local government agencies appear to have a kickback scheme for filling worker quotas, also linked to graduation. Under free-market capitalism, the government has no say in education, and cannot coerce students into labor while concurrently enriching itself. Such empirical consequences of government intervention in the economy should give pause to those calling for a similar environment in the US.
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
Moded as "flamebait" for correcting my own post. Oh the slashmanity.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
The problem is that such choice is made under duress.
Foxconn is like a slavemaster that beats you less; they still beat you like a slavemaster, but it is with precision instruments and your chains are of the highest quality. Should you wish to object, you get shot and disappeared by the government.
If they really were free, people wouldn't have any trouble speaking about Foxconn without anonymity.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
foxconn is a 19th century factory.
With the company store
On site living
overtime that exceeded the legal limit
little worker safety
workers being humiliated for messing up
I'm not sure what to think of this story, but I was surprised when I spoke to two mainland Chinese co-workers about the issue of worker conditions in China. Essentially they said that only Apple has the power to do anything about this issue. The Chinese government won't do anything, Foxconn and other manufacturers won't do anything, the Chinese workers are too powerless to do anything. Only Apple has what they phrased as "moral standing". The Chinese government and Foxconn are viewed as amoral.
I also read an interesting article the other day about the planned inspections. The author, a person with experience in doing inspections, says the currently planned third-party inspections won't work. He suggested instead Apple place an employee representative on-site permanently ensure compliance.
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Foxconn-Inspections-Are-Good-PR-but-Apple-Needs-to-Protect-Workers-407229/1/
You totally miss the educational/motivational part of such internships !
Once the students have worked during 3 months in these factories, they'll learn the following values:
1) if you fail your studies, that's where you'll work until the end of your life
2) if you succeed in your studies, you'll probably want to change the future working conditions in China.
3) if you excel in your studies, you'll be the next bosses, and these are good lessons on how to exploit people.
These are valuable work and life skills !