Allegedly, 300 disgruntled workers at Foxconn's Technology Park in Wuhan, China threatened to commit suicide today by jumping off a building.
The factory builds parts used in the Xbox 360.
Apparently the threats came after a payment dispute with their boss. After asking for a raise last week, the boss told them to quit with a small severance or continue to work without a raise. Most ... [ read the full article ]
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So much for this being all Apple's fault as many have done, huh?
Foxconn manufactures parts and assembles products for virtually ALL major electronics manufacturers. Abuses are primarily the fault of Foxconn, not the companies who hire them as a subcontractor (who generally have standards that the subcontractors are supposed to follow, but cannot police themselves all the time). However, all the bad press regarding Foxconn the past few years should make other companies question whether to keep using them as a subcontractor.
Originally posted by KillerBug:Microsoft only cares about low costs; that is the reason they build their devices using slave labor to begin with. I doubt this will change anything.
The sad truth is Killerbug that modern day slavery is endemic to pretty much all CE goods nowadays.
From city-sized prison complexes in China to forced prison work in the west it's staggeringly big business if you check it out.
But most don't & so are blissfully unaware.
That's one of the main reasons why most electronic goods are so cheap, that and automation.
The conditions of prisoners and/or the low paid foreign worker/foreign prisoner is very very far down the list of priorities and unless we all go out of our way to check out what we are buying then it is hard to escape the conclusion that we are complicit in this slave trade.
All the big CE corps source from China, India and east asia, just like lots of the clothes & shoe companies.
It's everywhere & nobody cares cos it saves us a few £/$
(even if our jobs are exported every & anywhere else).
It is coming to something tho that the exploitation is so gross that people will kill themselves (as several have already) rather than endure it any longer.
The current version of capitalism eh?
custom built gaming pc from early 2010,ps2 with 15 games all original,ps3 500gbs with 5 games all original,yamaha amp and 5.1channel surround sound speakers,46inch sony lcd smart tv.
Originally posted by xboxdvl2: i think the main problem is the factorys dont care.they know if a few workers suicide they can go hire more the same day.
it's not even a factory it's like a huge city it's crazy seen it on the news... and it def looks like slavery to me
