Foxconn Suicides Continue....Despite the promises

Foxconn makes electronics products for big American companies such as Apple.  They employ hundreds of thousands of workers who live and work at their factories. 

Employees at Foxconn work insane hours (in horrible conditions) and get paid slave wages.  They do that so companies like Apple don’t have to pay Americans real wages (and benefits). 

American companies take those savings and stick it in their bank account.  Apple is currently sitting on record amounts of cash.  137 Billion dollars to be exact.

American companies don’t care if Americans are unemployed.  They also don’t care if Chinese workers have horrible lives. 

As long as they can make lots of profit that is the most important thing.

In 2010 Foxconn employees started jumping off the roof in alarming numbers.  Turns out they would rather be dead then make anymore Iphones. 

Those suicides started creating really uncomfortable headlines in the United States.  It was hard for American companies to be surrounded by stacks of cash (while US unemployment was at record levels) and Chinese body bags were piling up in the Foxconn parking lot. 

Corporations assured everyone they would fix the problem.  They assured everyone they were not having their products made in sweatshops. 

One of their answers was to put up nets around the factories.  If employees did jump at least they wouldn’t die.  It was OK if Chinese workers lives were terrible… just please don’t make any more uncomfortable headlines. 

Well here we are three years later and Foxconn employees are still jumping to their deaths.  Things still haven’t gotten any better despite all the promises. 

I guess the uncomfortable headlines will continue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/business/global/3-foxconn-employees-are-said-to-have-committed-suicide.html?_r=0

This is the story from 2010.   http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/business/global/07suicide.html?pagewanted=all