Hon Hai (foxcon) Iphone 5 forced labour

[Sionyn]

Thousands of university students in China are allegedly being forced to work on the assembly line of a Foxconn factory after classes were suspended at the start of a new semester, according to a report from Shanghai Daily. The plant was said to be unable to find a sufficient number of workers for the production of Apple’s (AAPL) upcoming iPhone 5 and reached out to several different universities for help. Students began work on the production line last Thursday and are being compensated with 1,550 yuan, or roughly $243, per month for working 12 hours a day, six days a week.

http://www.bgr.com/2012/09/06/iphone-5-production-china-foxconn-students/

[SeanB]

Work experience points then, a good thing for the future employers to see, these are capable workers and have been trained before you got them.

[rollatorwieltje]

It's even worse when you realize that Foxconn is one of the "better" manufacturers.
Just look at all the shit on DealExtreme for example, I don't even want to know under what kind of circumstances that junk was produced.

[Sionyn]

i din't know how unfounded the reports are, what dose it say about us EE or the industry as a whole

playing the devils advocate
are we being 'neglectful' using such manufactures 

[Psi]

playing the devils advocate
are we being 'neglectful' using such manufactures

Yes.
And it's the same with lots of things, all the really cheap clothing comes from china and is made in horrid conditions.

[cloudscapes]

In this day and age, it's really hard to live in a first world country and not use somethign that at some point in the line was manufactered in bad conditions. I mean, I've been making an effort for ethical clothes and shoes last several years, as well as organic locally grown food, but I still use electronics. I don't have an apple, but I'm willing to bet my HTC phone is probably built with the same factory conditions.

[korborh]

playing the devils advocate
are we being 'neglectful' using such manufactures

Yes.
And it's the same with lots of things, all the really cheap clothing comes from china and is made in horrid conditions.

Reality of a highly populated and competitive planet....

[Psi]

The problem is china has so many people that all need jobs, so its common practice for companies to use manual labour over machines wherever possible.
They then pay the workers about the same as it would cost the company if they used the machine.

From the workers perspective, they would rather get some money than no money (if the company used a machine instead of them)

[T4P]

In this day and age, it's really hard to live in a first world country and not use somethign that at some point in the line was manufactered in bad conditions. I mean, I've been making an effort for ethical clothes and shoes last several years, as well as organic locally grown food, but I still use electronics. I don't have an apple, but I'm willing to bet my HTC phone is probably built with the same factory conditions.

You can bet your top dollar it was made in proper conditions somewhere in Taiwan, it's just unlike china! and with proper wages

[nanofrog]

You can bet your top dollar it was made in proper conditions somewhere in Taiwan, it's just unlike china! and with proper wages

Are these employers complaining about the wages, packing up, and pulling out for cheaper pastures?

[amyk]

playing the devils advocate
are we being 'neglectful' using such manufactures

Yes.
And it's the same with lots of things, all the really cheap clothing comes from china and is made in horrid conditions.

Reality of a highly populated and competitive planet....

Definitely. If it weren't for cheap labour in China and other places, things would be a lot more expensive than they already are.

I doubt it's as horrible for the students as they claim; they're being paid to work, they'd be the ones paying for classes otherwise, and the 12 hours they spend in the factory would otherwise be spent in class and on homework and studying (which is not paid work).

[slateraptor]

I mean, I've been making an effort for ethical clothes and shoes...

Dockers D2 iron-free chinos: Made in Cambodia
Levi's 514 jeans: Made in Cambodia / Mexico
Brooks Bothers non-iron shirts: Made in Malaysia
Ralph Lauren v-necks and polos: Made in India / Peru / Philippines / China
Sperry Italian mocs: Made in China
Timberland Italian mocs: Made in Vietnam

Considering how my entire work wardrobe exploits 3rd-world sweat shop labor, I don't think I could afford to dress "ethically" even if I wanted to.

[T4P]

Dockers D2 iron-free chinos: Made in Cambodia
Levi's 514 jeans: Made in Cambodia / Mexico
Brooks Bothers non-iron shirts: Made in Malaysia
Ralph Lauren v-necks and polos: Made in India / Peru / Philippines / China
Sperry Italian mocs: Made in China
Timberland Italian mocs: Made in Vietnam

Considering how my entire work wardrobe exploits 3rd-world sweat shop labor, I don't think I could afford to dress "ethically" even if I wanted to.

Malaysia third world? Not.
second world it most likely is, first world close.

Are these employers complaining about the wages, packing up, and pulling out for cheaper pastures?

Just Samsung. And many others, but not HTC! HTC is from Taiwan, so they are still where they started from, as for LG? Nope, still in korea.
Except monitors which have been done in malaysia since a heck of a long time ago

Definitely. If it weren't for cheap labour in China and other places, things would be a lot more expensive than they already are.

I doubt it's as horrible for the students as they claim; they're being paid to work, they'd be the ones paying for classes otherwise, and the 12 hours they spend in the factory would otherwise be spent in class and on homework and studying (which is not paid work).

Students must have a choice, but in this case it's forced labour and they students themselves have no choice!

[Mechatrommer]

i dress ethically all the time because i'm in 3rd world country. furhermore... "honorable" dressing because i bought some shirts from west (usa or aussie not sure) which cost 10x the cost here. cheap labour is no issue here its everywhere. praise to us we balance the economy blame to who demand it!

[firewalker]

Is this a fact or unconfirmed?

Alexander.

[T4P]

i dress ethically all the time because i'm in 3rd world country. furhermore... "honorable" dressing because i bought some shirts from west (usa or aussie not sure) which cost 10x the cost here. cheap labour is no issue here its everywhere. praise to us we balance the economy blame to who demand it!

On the bright side, malaysia being a 3rd world was in the 1990s! That's a heck of a long time ago ...

[Mechatrommer]

On the bright side, malaysia being a 3rd world was in the 1990s! That's a heck of a long time ago ...

on the dark side, we are still is. hep hep horray to "right winged" government! time for a change!

[jerry507]

Even though a lot of companies assemble their products in other countries, they're still using China to make components. Plastics is a big one, and even HTC is getting parts from China. I'm not sure what's actually there, but South Korea has been moving manufacturing to the North Korean economic zone thing they put it. North Koreans work for less

[T4P]

on the dark side, we are still is. hep hep horray to "right winged" government! time for a change!

Indeed.

Even though a lot of companies assemble their products in other countries, they're still using China to make components. Plastics is a big one, and even HTC is getting parts from China. I'm not sure what's actually there, but South Korea has been moving manufacturing to the North Korean economic zone thing they put it. North Koreans work for less

What other choice do companies have? Sometimes making your own stuff completely is a bit of an arse.
But luckily the Tegra is made just where it is, Taiwan.

[ftransform]

I actually read that labour is not that expensive on the iphone 5. Not nearly as much as people think. Take the iphone 5.

http://us.aving.net/news/view.php?articleId=205940

According to this the manufacturing cost is 20$ per unit and apple has a 56% profit margin.
I feel like they could probably manufacture it in the west and save on overseas shipping. Or maybe cut into their profit margin a bit and not rely on conscription of workers lol.

Iirc the people conscripted to work in the factory are what we would consider to be liberal arts majors/lawyers. I don't think they need the assembly line experience. I'd be pretty pissed if I was conscripted to work at a factory.

[Mechatrommer]

ah thats what illegal immigrants are for!