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Suicide Factory Hikes Wages 20%

Company hopes for 'morale boost' after 10 employees jumped to their deaths

By Caroline Miller,  Newser Staff

Posted May 28, 2010 7:22 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Foxconn, the electronics manufacturer hit by suicides of unhappy workers at its main plant in China, says it will raise wages by 20%. The company, which makes parts and assembles products for Apple, Sony, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, claims the raise has been in the works for months in response to a labor shortage. Still, after 10 suicides and three more attempts this year, an official expressed hope that the raises would boost morale. "Feeling sad is contagious, and so is feeling happy," he told the AP. "We hope the workers will have a positive attitude toward their lives."

Labor activists have urged Foxconn to raise wages by at least 50%, which they say would enable workers to earn enough to make a living without having to do overtime, CNN reports; the base salary is currently about $130 a month. Foxconn's chairman said earlier this week that the mammoth factory's 30,000 employees were being divided into groups of 50 that would watch for signs of emotional trouble among their members.

ember of a Taiwan labor group spread a banner that reads, What's the Price of the Human Body? as they stage a protest outside Hon Hai Precision Industry, the Taiwanese parent company of Foxconn, on Friday, May 28, 2010, in Taipei, Taiwan. A Foxconn Technology worker in China tried to...
ember of a Taiwan labor group spread a banner that reads, "What's the Price of the Human Body?" as they stage a protest outside Hon Hai Precision Industry, the Taiwanese parent company of Foxconn, on...   (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Members of a Taiwan labor group stage a rally outside Hon Hai Precision Industry, the Taiwanese parent company of Foxconn, on Friday, May 28, 2010, in Taipei, Taiwan, following a series of suicide deaths of Foxconn employees in China. A Foxconn Technology worker tried to kill himself Thursday, becoming the...
Members of a Taiwan labor group stage a rally outside Hon Hai Precision Industry, the Taiwanese parent company of Foxconn, on Friday, May 28, 2010, in Taipei, Taiwan, following a series of suicide deaths...   (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A local resident holds a sign reading Foxconn, 12th jump, not harmonious to mourn the workers who committed suicide at the Foxconn complex in the Chinese city of Shenzhen Thursday, May 27, 2010.
A local resident holds a sign reading "Foxconn, 12th jump, not harmonious" to mourn the workers who committed suicide at the Foxconn complex in the Chinese city of Shenzhen Thursday, May 27, 2010.   (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Workers gather at the entrance of the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen Thursday, May 27, 2010. A young man became the 10th worker to jump to his death at a Foxconn Technology Group factory in the city, just hours after the company's chairman toured the plant...
Workers gather at the entrance of the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen Thursday, May 27, 2010. A young man became the 10th worker to jump to his death at a Foxconn Technology Group...   (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 7 comments
JohnEd
Jun 1, 2010 2:28 AM CDT
Which one of my fellow employees should step up...
Angelique
May 29, 2010 2:20 PM CDT
I wonder if the employees at that factory are being exposed to a chemical that alters their brain chemistry. It may not be something used in manufacturing, but rather something in the building itself. I doubt the working conditions or pay there are very different from other factories in the area, and since there is a labor shortage, workers unhappy with the pay had a chance to move elsewhere.
StewieGriffin76
May 29, 2010 12:45 AM CDT
Honey, I got a raise....not only do I have a reason to live, we can now eat a WHOLE box of macaroni and cheese today!

 
China • suicide • Apple • Foxconn • iPad suicides

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