Despite Promises, Reports Claim Foxconn Workers Still Mistreated, Underpaid

Foxconn, which makes a huge number of consumer electronics, including devices from Apple, has been under pressure to reform its practices after a spate of suicides at its plants which seemed to stem from over work and mistreatment.

Foxconn (also known as Hon Hai) said previously they would be resolving the issues, making environments safer and increasing wages, but according to separate reports detailed today by Reuters, problems continue to exist for at least some of 937,000 or so Foxconn workers.

The first report, which had interviews from 1,700 workers between June and August of this year and was carried out by 20 universities, found that the “militaristic” culture remained inside the company’s factories, as well as heavy employment of low-wage college students and interns.

The second report by the Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior group said that workers were being paid barely minimum wage despite the company’s assurances that wage increases would go ahead to combat the decreasing mental health of employees.

Foxconn have responded saying that they “strongly and categorically rejects reports in the Chinese and international media that are attributed to research by academics and students alleging worker abuse, illegal labor practices, and unsafe working conditions at our operations in China,” as well as calling the allegations “unsubstantiated”.

The company claimed that only 7.6% of its employees were interns and said: “Foxconn is certainly not perfect, but we take our responsibility to our employees very seriously.”

The Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior group also highlighted the companies who source from Foxconn saying: “Apple and other brands must raise the unit price of their orders to allow manufacturers to survive while providing a living wage for the workers who produce their electronics products.”

It would be nice to think that the Chinese workers are getting decent wages and working conditions, but as companies -and consumers- push for lower prices, those cuts have to be made somewhere. Capitalism, as it’s said, always needs a loser.

Via: Kotaku