Ninth worker death at Taiwan iPhone firm Foxconn

[xxMATTGxx]

A ninth employee has jumped to his death at Taiwanese iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, China's state media reports.

Xinhua said 21-year-old Nan Gang leapt from a four-storey factory in the early hours, soon after finishing work.

Shortly after, it emerged that the death of a worker at a Foxconn plant in Hebei province earlier this year was also a suicide.

A total of 11 Foxconn employees have tried to kill themselves this year - two have survived.

The incidents have raised concerns about worker treatment at the site.

The Associated Press quoted spokesman Arthur Huang as saying the company carried out social responsibility programmes to ensure workers' welfare.

Earlier this week, Foxconn said it was enlisting counsellors and Buddhist monks to provide emotional support for its workers.

Suicides

Ten of the employees worked at Foxconn's campuses in Shenzhen, but on Friday it was revealed that a man who died at a factory in the northern Hebei province had also jumped from a building.

The worker, identified by Xinhua as 19-year old Rong Bo, died in the city of Langtang early this year.

A similar investigation into the death of 16-year old Wang Lingyan - who was found dead in a dormitory at the same site - concluded she died from cardiac arrest, government spokeswoman Wang Qiunu told Xinhua.

Foxconn is part of Hon Hai Precision, the world's largest maker of consumer electronics, and employs 800,000 workers worldwide, mostly in China.

The company has said it is taking the deaths seriously, even though a local government investigation did not blame working conditions.

The spate of deaths comes after a Foxconn employee in charge of shipping Apple's iPhone prototype units killed himself last year after one of the units went missing.

Apple said it had investigated accusations of bad employment practices by Foxconn stemming from a June 2006 complaint, and found the claims to be largely unfounded.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...c/10137101.stm

Ouch to be honest, it's a shame they produce products that are £300+ and get hardly any wage or a decent life or anything out of it.


Interesting report: http://gizmodo.com/5542527/undercove...s-hell-factory

[danzooo]

It's a shame to be honest, all these big companies exploit these countries for their cheap labour and lenience on worker legislation, I can imagine them being given the bare minimum of treatment.

I can totally understand why these workers would be driven to suicide - no one should be subjected to that. Especially when the workforce of the company are it's heart and soul - it's like neglecting the engine of a car but keeping the bodywork shiny.

[Jahova]

They need to sort this out.

[HotelUser]

Free trade should be illegal!

[Soy]

*Removed*



Edited by Catzsy (Forum Super Moderator): Please do not make inappropriate remarks.

[Sharon]

^ rude.

This is just unfair - they really need to do something :@

[::Art::]

*REMOVED*

LOL Dan very mean

[GommeInc]

Aren't Foxconn known to be dreadful anyway, build quality included as well? It's pretty shocking, are they threatened by Foxconn/Apple, or just generally live stressful lives where they over-work themselves?

[Agnostic Bear]

Aren't Foxconn known to be dreadful anyway, build quality included as well? It's pretty shocking, are they threatened by Foxconn/Apple, or just generally live stressful lives where they over-work themselves?

Yes Foxconn is bargain bin quality at normal prices.

[xxMATTGxx]

Another suspected suicide has occurred at a factory in China, the latest in a string of deaths at the plant this year, state media reports.

Xinhua said the male employee jumped to his death hours after a media tour at the plant owned by Taiwan firm Foxconn.

The firm manufactures mobile phones and electronic equipment for top brands including Dell computers and Apple.

If confirmed, the death would be the twelfth attempted suicide at the plant - two people have survived such falls.

The plant employs more than 400,000 people.

One man was also reported to have killed himself at another Foxconn plant in Hebei province earlier this year.

Apple has said it is "saddened and upset" by the recent string of suicides.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...c/10169595.stm

Another one!