Foxconn suicides

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iPhone Plant Sees Another Apparent Suicide

Worker found dead at plant in China this week

(Newser) - A 28-year-old worker at a Chinese plant responsible for making most of the new iPhones was found dead this week, and a nonprofit group is calling it a suicide , reports the Wall Street Journal . It wouldn't be the first time a Foxconn worker has killed himself; there was a...

Foxconn Eyes New Plant—in US

Where it will make really big screens

(Newser) - China isn't the manufacturing haven it once was, so the most ( in ) famous tech manufacturer operating within its borders is setting out for new frontiers—including the US of A. "The US is a must-go market," Foxconn chairman Terry Gou declared yesterday at the company'...

What Drove an Apple Plant Worker to Attempt Suicide

Tian Yu shares her story

(Newser) - It was a morbid and recurring headline in 2010: Another Foxconn Worker Dead in Suicide. Ultimately, 18 workers attempted to take their lives that year, and all but four succeeded. One of those survivors, Tian Yu, has spoken extensively to Jenny Chan, who last month published Yu's story in...

China Foxconn Plant Shut After Riot Erupts

40 hurt, several arrested in plant melee

(Newser) - A riot erupted yesterday at a Foxconn plant in China, triggering a shutdown of the operation, reports the BBC . Windows were smashed and a guard tower toppled as riot police moved in at the Taiyuan factory, reports NBC . The clash was reportedly triggered when a factory guard struck a worker...

Foxconn Finally Improves Conditions

Audit finds progress at electronics giant

(Newser) - Life has become less stressful for the million or so people employed by electronics giant Foxconn, an audit from the Fair Labor Association has found. The company, which suffered a spate of suicides at its plant in southern China, has complied with most of the recommendations made after Apple opened...

Another Foxconn Worker Jumps to Death

First suicide since Apple supplier agreed to overhaul conditions

(Newser) - Despite the company's efforts to improve working conditions, another Foxconn suicide has occurred: This time, the Apple supplier says a worker jumped to his death from his apartment. The 23-year-old had just joined the company last month, Reuters reports. Yesterday's suicide is the first since Foxconn and Apple...

Foxconn Workers Vowed to Jump Off Roof in Protest

Chinese employees take action against assembly line conditions

(Newser) - Close to 150 Chinese workers gathered on the rooftop of their Foxconn factory in Wuhan and threatened to leap to their deaths in a "suicide protest" against poor working conditions. The workers were talked down by the local mayor and company officials after spending two days on top of...

Suicide-Plagued Foxconn to Swap People for Robots

In 3 years, it could use as many as 1M robots

(Newser) - Foxconn, the suicide-plagued maker of millions of Apple products in China, plans to use as many as one million robots on its assembly line within three years—compared to just 10,000 today, a Chinese report says. Increasing labor costs is a major driver behind the move, reports Reuters . "...

Apple's China Factories Treat Workers 'Like Machines'
Apple's China Factories Treat Workers 'Like Machines'
investigation

Apple's China Factories Treat Workers 'Like Machines'

New report cites 'inhumane' treatment at Foxconn

(Newser) - Workers at the Foxconn factories in China that produce millions of Apple products per year are treated “inhumanely, like machines,” according to a new report. The investigation reveals the poor treatment the 500,000 workers endure as the factories work to meet Western demand for iPhones and iPads:...

Report Blasts Safety at Apple's China Factories

Company ranks dead last, say Chinese environmental groups

(Newser) - Chinese environmental groups say Apple hasn’t responded to health and pollution concerns at supplier factories. A report ranks 29 multinational tech companies on their responsiveness to inquiries about conditions at supplier factories; Apple comes in last, the Financial Times reports. The report cites Apple’s failure to respond to...

Another Possible Suicide at Foxconn

Would be at least the 14th this year

(Newser) - Another worker apparently committed suicide at a Foxconn factory in China, Reuters reports. Local media states the employee “fell to death” at one of the manufacturing facilities today. Labor rights groups say, prior to this death, at least 13 other Foxconn workers have committed suicide this year. The company...

Another Foxconn Worker Dead in Possible Suicide

Employee fell off company dorm building

(Newser) - Foxconn, the beleaguered Chinese company that produces products for Apple, Dell, HP, Sony, and other international electronics giants, has suffered what looks like another suicide. A man fell from a dormitory building to his death today, according to the official Xinhua news agency, and officials are investigating.

'Suicide Factory' Workers Relocated to Avoid Raises

Only iPhone workers will get hefty wage hikes promised by Foxconn

(Newser) - Here's one way to avoid paying the hefty raises promised to 300,000 workers at the suicide-plagued Foxconn electronics plant in Shenzhen, China: move most of them to less expensive, remote plants in other parts of the country. Foxconn is apparently keeping the iPhone workers in Shenzhen, but moving Hewlett...

Foxconn Ends Suicide Payments to Families

Says 'condolence' payouts of 10 years' wages were acting as incentives

(Newser) - The suicide-plagued Chinese electronics plant Foxconn will no longer be giving money to the families of employees who kill themselves. The company, which previously paid victims' families more than $14,000 each—equivalent to 10 years' wages—explained the move by saying it fears the generous compensation was motivating workers...

13th Worker Attempts Suicide at China Plant

Man survives cutting himself at tech industry supplier

(Newser) - A Foxconn Technology worker tried to kill himself today, becoming the 13th person to commit suicide or attempt to do so this year at the company, which makes high-tech products for industry giants such as Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard. Police said the 25-year-old man survived after cutting himself in his...

10th Suicide Strikes Apple Plant

Chinese worker kills himself hours after boss seeks to reassure media

(Newser) - On the same day that Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard promised to look into working conditions at China's Foxconn plant, a 10th worker committed suicide, PC World reports. The death of the 19-year-old male worker also came just after the company's billionaire founder took the media on a tour of the...

9th Apple Plant Worker Commits Suicide

China suicide cluster baffles manufacturer

(Newser) - A 21-year-old man who jumped out a window to his death Saturday marks the ninth suicide of a worker at Foxconn, the Taiwanese-owned manufacturer of iPhones and iPods. The deaths of young employees—combined with the fact that the company says it has prevented some 30 suicides in the past...

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