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Foxconn Workers On Strike Over iPhone 5 Production
itwbennett writes "That army of robotic assembly line workers we mentioned yesterday apparently can't get started soon enough. As many as 3,000-4,000 workers are on strike at Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory, upset at stricter quality control requirements with the iPhone 5 and having to work through a national holiday this week. 'According to workers, multiple iPhone 5 production lines from various factory buildings were in a state of paralysis for the entire day,' China Labor Watch said. Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo are both blocking searches in Chinese for 'Foxconn strikes.'"
Strike, it's the only power they have. Until they get shot for being on strike that is, or run over by a tank.. this is happening in China you know..
And actually, China lets them strike because it hurts the US more than China. It's not like Apple is going to close the slave labor camps any time soon, even if they lose a few bucks.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Couldnt they go on strike the day(s) of the holiday, just return the next day and start working?
Won't someone think of the hipsters?
But.. but.. but... I thought by boycotting Apple I was helping the workers!!
You know what, I totally misread the summary. It's my bad and I apologize. Please mod my post down.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
when US and European Labor movements really started to assert themselves and address inequities and call the Robber Barons to task.
China has their army and Police -US companies had Police and Pinkertons....the workers still prevailed in the end, although much has been lost recently...
Hopefully it will not be bloody, but they deserve better than they are getting even if it means we might be paying slightly more for the next plastic POS we buy.
I'm just sayin'
the ipod's promise to revolutionize the way we live, only applies to its consumers.
Good people go to bed earlier.
They'll be even more unhappy once they realize that robots can do their jobs even cheaper than they can. You know it's bad when even mainstream media is picking this up. A few months ago I was watching one of those Nightline/Dateline/Whateverline evening news shows that was talking specifically about Foxconn. At the end they showed the up-and-coming robot that does the work of the Chinese workers and in half the time of a human for half the cost. The reporter asked something along the lines of "what is going to happen when businesses realize they can assemble the gadgets in the U.S. and not pay to ship them across the ocean?"
24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not!
I don't see how a country with such a large workforce can have any traction in a strike? Foxconn is a huge employer over there. Their working conditions are what most westerners would describe as "sweatshops", but then so are 95% of the rest of the manufacturing plants over there, so despite being unusual for "us", it's not at all uncommon for "them".
I wonder how long it takes for Foxconn to find another 4,000 workers willing to do the job for the pay? I simply can't believe that any of those employees weren't fully aware of what was and could be asked of them. They just want more pay for what's probably more work, and certainly longer work weeks. But if there are three people lined up behind you waiting to do that job for that pay the moment you turn your back, a strike doesn't seem like a good idea.
Strikes and unions just don't make sense for unskilled labor. And just because it's electronics doesn't make it skilled - if you're doing something that could be replaced with a robotic arm, it's not "skilled", skilled refers to mental skills, not physical.
I wish I had more insight into this "chinese holiday" thing though. I get the impression they take it a lot more seriously than we're giving them credit for. I see a lot of the chinese stores going on holiday all at once, it's obviously a widespread thing, maybe that five day vacation is their unwind time for the rest of the year in the sweatshop? In that case I think I can start to understand where it becomes a big deal. Kinda stupid of Apple to expect them to launch a new production line at that time, they had to see that one coming. I would expect them to have had a conversation with foxconn, "can you DO this?" And foxconn either adding a premium to the cost during that time, or sniveling and saying they'll make it happen, to keep their biggest customer. Oh to be a fly on the wall...
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
But in the US they have a high tax rate, and aren't allowed to just dump their waste in the local river... so that wont happen anyway.
I've seen a lot of people with iPhones and Samsung Galaxy S3s. Whenever I see a Galaxy S3, I think, how in the fuck can you actually USE that thing? So my question is, do you have first hand experience with the S3, and is it just too ridiculously big?
I'd rather have an Android but will gladly go to the iPhone if it means getting a rocking phone that actually fits in my pocket and doesn't make me look like a dork.
I believe that Android phones come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You may not believe it is true that there is not one true phone. Android phones come with keyboards; projectors; even larger sizes [and smaller ones]; at every price point; game pads; waterpoofing; 2 sim slots. Personally I quite like the HTC S for a good android phone with a smaller screen. ...but then this is another off topic post to try and detract from worker abuse at Apples manufactures.
Which American companies actually pay American Taxes? Not Google, Apple, Microsoft, General Electric, or any other large company that has the resources to hire good accountants. The cost of waste disposal for an assembly line probably isn't that much.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
The butthurt is strong in this one, O Master!
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
Neat coincidence, no?
Gladly. Please point me to a cell phone that is made 100% in the first world and I will immediately buy it.
~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
I suppose if you call billions of dollars paid in taxes as nothing, then yea, GE paid nothing. Pretty sure it's the same with the other companies, but you can research it yourself.
That article doesn't really say quite what you're asserting that it does.
They'll be even more unhappy once they realize that robots can do their jobs even cheaper than they can.
Don't be silly, they'll be building the robots.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Here's more relevant information about the reasons for the strike: http://www.businessinsider.com/foxconn-workers-go-on-strike-2012-10 The important bit is that workers are striking not because they are against stricter quality, but because tighter quality checks meant they must work harder to produce iPhone components presumably at the same rate as earlier models. And they were told to do this without additional training.Victory for workers would mean Foxconn hiring more workers and less exhausting working pace for all workers there.
http://www.ctj.org/taxjusticedigest/archive/2012/02/press_release_general_electric.php
General Electric's (GE) annual SEC 10-K filing for 2011 (filed February 24, 2012) reveals that the company paid at most two percent of its $80.2 billion in U.S. pretax profits in federal income taxes over the last 10 years.
Following revelations in March 2011 that GE paid no federal income taxes in 2010 and in fact enjoyed $3.3 billion in net tax benefits, GE told AFP (3/29/2011), "GE did not pay US federal taxes last year because we did not owe any." But don't worry, GE told Dow Jones Newswires (3/28/2011), "our 2011 tax rate is slated to return to more normal levels with GE Capital's recovery."
As it turns out, however, in 2011 GE's effective federal income tax rate was only 11.3 percent, less than a third the official 35 percent corporate tax rate.
"I don't think most Americans would consider 11.3 percent, not to mention GE's long-term effective rate of 1.8 percent, to be 'normal,' " said Bob McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice. "But for GE, taxes are something to be avoided rather than paid."
Pretty sure it's the same with the other companies, but you can research it yourself.
GE is one of 280 profitable Fortune 500 companies profiled in "Corporate Taxpayers and Corporate Tax Dodgers, 2008-2010." The report shows GE is one of 30 major U.S. corporations that paid zero -- or less -- in federal income taxes in the last three years. The full report, a joint project of Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, is at http://ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/.
The difference between the 47% of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes and GE, is that GE makes billions of dollars per year.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Pretty sure it's the same with the other companies, but you can research it yourself.
No, just for the big ones. The small ones have to pay a lot more.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Don't forget payroll taxes, fuck this doublespeak. The implication is that they don't pay any taxes, this needs to be actively combated.
FFS. Payroll taxes and State taxes do not go towards paying down the Federal Deficit.
GE does not do its part in paying the tax that would prevent the bankruptcy of America.
Your pedantry does nothing to advance a solution.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
I don't know why the Chinese government even bothers with blocking anymore...
"Hey, did you hear about the Foxconn strikes? Do you think they're real?"
"Dunno, lemme check" *looks up Foxconn stirkes*
*search blocked*
"Yep, they're real"