Foxconn - Eye opener

deuse said:
Where the hell did you work? I have been in work over 35 years never heard of a suicide because of working conditions.

Are you sure they was not trying to tell you something :D
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Creda/Hotpoint/Indesit/Ariston in Blythe Bridge, Stoke On Trent.
Some people absolutely hated the place and what with home problems it sent them over the edge.
Many many people had nervous breakdowns because of working there and yes I know - find another job then.
And when I said 'friends' I meant work colleagues.
 
that's actually quite a bit better than i was expecting.

you want the real horror stories? look at the factories that make the budget items. they'll have working conditions that'll make you say goodbye to your lunch.
 
Nothing shocking at all about it - there are many hundreds of factories a lot worse in the UK. They all have a job after all.....

"Foxconn's $565m net profit in Q1 " isn't really that much when compared to other businesses - and considering their superfacory holds 400,000 - and they are getting an average $132 a month (a damn good wage there) - they are also getting a damn good share of the profits (a larger percentage than I do working for my company and probably most other people working on here in the UK)

What's the issue exactly ? Dear God - there's upwards of 10 million under 12 year olds in Africa picking tobacco for less than $5 a week - some get nothing but a good whipping ( and it's been that way for the last 60 years) - but no one really minds or cares..
 
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A natural consequence of consumerism and the lazy me-me-me attitude displayed here (with some blame shared by how expensive it is to do business in the UK). Don't buy from exploitative corporations and they won't thrive, simple as that.

As for the specific example, better than the Bangladeshi girl's working conditions...these people are adults working with advanced equipment, have transport to and from their dormitories and a minimum wage.
 
sr4470 said:
A natural consequence of consumerism and the lazy me-me-me attitude displayed here (with some blame shared by how expensive it is to do business in the UK). Don't buy from exploitative corporations and they won't thrive, simple as that.
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So unbelievably short sighted.

And if these factories weren't there. Paying a darn good wage.
What do you think these people would be doing? do you think there rights would suddenly increase? do you think they would suddenly be better of?

Before you get decent working conditions you have to have a strong economy. Working conditions are improved slowly over decades. It is the only way it can be done.
 
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AcidHell2 said:
So unbelievably short sighted.

And if these factories weren't there. Paying a darn good wage.
What do you think these people would be doing? do you think there rights would suddenly increase? do you think they would suddenly be better of?
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Where did I say the factories should be forced to change\shut down? It was simply a response to the people posting that they were shocked. Consumerism isn't going to disappear because of a few opinions anyway. Besides, we're not exactly enjoying spectacular working conditions here, welfare often picks up the unemployment slack as well.

More importantly Apple aren't exactly "low-end" in prices so they don't even have the costs excuse, it is pure greed.

As for alternatives, well they could own and work land, but the Chinese ruling class's authoritarianism makes that more difficult.

AcidHell2 said:
Before you get decent working conditions you have to have a strong economy.
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Which China has. Where have you been the last 20 years :confused:

AcidHell2 said:
Working conditions are improved slowly over decades. It is the only way it can be done.
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You seem to have misread what I'm saying here...it isn't my business to tell Chinese people what to do, however I can exert whatever small influence I have by trading ethically where possible.
 
AcidHell2 said:
it's improving, it's not there.
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For a country high up on several economic indexes, the middle class is pretty tiny (less than 10% of the population if we go by median income). The economy was liberalised all the way back in 1978 under Mao...

Wikipedia = People's Republic of China said:
The PRC is the fourth most visited country in the world with 50.9 million inbound international visitors in 2009.[118] It is a member of the WTO and is the world's second largest trading power behind the US with a total international trade of US$2.21 trillion – US$1.20 trillion in exports (#1) and US$1.01 trillion in imports (#2). Its foreign exchange reserves have reached US$2.4 trillion, making it by far the world's largest.[119] The PRC owns an estimated $1.6 trillion of U.S. securities.[120] It is the world's third largest recipient of inward FDI by attracting US$92.4 billion in 2008 alone,[121] while the country itself increasingly invests abroad with a total outward FDI of US$52.2 billion in 2008 alone becoming the world's sixth largest outward investor.[122]
...
The PRC, holding US$801.5 billion in Treasury bonds, is the largest foreign holder of U.S. public debt.[125][126]
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It is inefficient in energy terms (coal dependance, machinery) so that could translate to either more profit or a better share for the average worker.
 
Or we could look at GDP per capita.


china = $2,033.90
Uk = $38,849.97


Yes they have a strong economy due to sheer man soze. that does not related to wealth as such.
 
AcidHell2 said:
Or we could look at GDP per capita.


china = $2,033.90
Uk = $38,849.97


Yes they have a strong economy due to sheer man soze. that does not related to wealth as such.
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That was my point, the average person doesn't see that much of the wealth they helped create. That said, the living costs are much lower in China than here so a direct comparison per capita is difficult to make...
 
sr4470 said:
That was my point, the average person doesn't see that much of the wealth they helped create...
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Not really, there just isn't that much wealth per head.

There economy is large and improving compared to other countries. Due to sheer population number. That does not mean they generate anything like the western world per head of society.

Living costs don't really matter. There is a positive correlation between GDP per capita and a high lifestyle.
After all it's basically how much money is available per person.
 
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AcidHell2 said:
Not really, there just isn't that much wealth per head.
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They artificially deflate the yuan though, so a dollar comparison isn't really a great point of discussion... which is why I quoted a range of figures and not just GDP.

There economy is large and improving compared to other countries. Due to sheer population number. That does not mean they generate anything like the western world per head of society.
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That depends how you define productivity, surely?

Living costs don't really matter. There is a positive correlation between GDP per capita and a high lifestyle.
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They do. The GDP also includes loans on property and rents...

After all it's basically how much money is available per person.
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I mentioned median income value precisely because the average is very skewed.
 
am i missing the point? doesnt seem all that bad

china and asia in general has much higher suicide rates than here anyway. the other main 'outrage' in the article seems to be that the factory workers cant afford iphones or ipads. i dont think many factory workers here can afford to buy those without saving either

try taiwan for some 'proper' bad working conditions
 
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