Workers at Xbox 360 Plant Threaten Mass Suicide

[Bullwinkle]

UPDATE: Microsoft has issued the following statement in response to the story:

"Microsoft takes working conditions in the factories that manufacture its products very seriously, and we are currently investigating this issue.
 
"We have a stringent Vendor Code of Conduct that spells out our expectations, and we monitor working conditions closely on an ongoing basis and address issues as they emerge. Microsoft is committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors, and to ensuring conformance with Microsoft policy."
 
ORIGINAL STORY: Around 300 workers at a Foxconn manufacturing plant in Wuhan, China reportedly threatened to throw themselves en masse off the building's roof following a pay dispute earlier this month.
 
According to a WantChina Times report, as spotted by Kotaku, the staff, who worked on the Xbox 360 assembly line, were denied a pay rise by Foxconn management.
 
They were then offered a choice between staying on at their current wage or taking compensated dismissal. Many workers apparently chose the latter, however, management then rescinded the offer. In protest, the workers climbed onto the plant's roof and threatened to jump off.
 
The mayor of Wuhan apparently intervened and helped talk the workers down.

This isn't the first time Foxconn has made headlines. A spate of employee suicides back in 2010 led to management installing nets on the sides of its buildings to stop staff jumping.
 
At the time, Microsoft's Phil Spencer offered the following statement:

"Foxconn has been an important partner of ours and remains an important partner. I trust them as a responsible company to continue to evolve their process and work relationships.
 
"That is something we remain committed to - the safe and ethical treatment of people who build our products. That's a core value of our company."
 

Link

[metallicorphan]

yeah Foxconn should do something,ridiculous,this time its Xbox 360s and last time i think the headlines went to Apple iPhones,but they assemble all types there


This ginormous article is from February 2011
1 Million Workers,90 million iPhones,17 suicides

[Ralph-Wiggum]

This week's This American Life (podcast can be found here) was all about the working condition at Foxconn and similar plants in China. Not surprisingly, they are pretty grim.

[Teggy]

Yeah, this is definitely not really an MS story as much as a Foxconn story. That said, companies have a responsibility to make sure workers manufacturing their products are being treated fairly. On the other hand, Americans demand cheap electronics...

China definitely seems to be in their "The Jungle" period. Best of luck to them trying to form unions.

[TiLT]

Yeah, this is definitely not really an MS story as much as a Foxconn story.

Well, it is an MS story in that they employ Foxconn. They are an enabler.

[Gratch]

This isn't the first time Foxconn has made headlines. A spate of employee suicides back in 2010 led to management installing nets on the sides of its buildings to stop staff jumping.

   When things get to the point where you have to install anti-suicide nets on your building, that's typically an indicator that you should reevaluate your business practices.

[Isgrimnur]

China definitely seems to be in their "The Jungle" period. Best of luck to them trying to form unions.

In that worker's paradise?  I thought the government was their union.  

[Purge]

This isn't the first time Foxconn has made headlines. A spate of employee suicides back in 2010 led to management installing nets on the sides of its buildings to stop staff jumping.

   When things get to the point where you have to install anti-suicide nets on your building, that's typically an indicator that you should reevaluate your business practices.

Perspective shift: those nets aren`t to prevent suicides - they`re there to prevent them needing to hire more cleaning staff.

[Kagath]

This isn't the first time Foxconn has made headlines. A spate of employee suicides back in 2010 led to management installing nets on the sides of its buildings to stop staff jumping.

   When things get to the point where you have to install anti-suicide nets on your building, that's typically an indicator that you should reevaluate your business practices.

Yep, that was my first thought. 

[CeeKay]

Yeah, this is definitely not really an MS story as much as a Foxconn story.

Well, it is an MS story in that they employ Foxconn. They are an enabler.

looks like there are a bunch of enablers:

    Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
    Amazon.com (United States)[23]

    In 2011, Amazon and Foxconn formed a joint-design manufacturing company. The move was meant to produce an Amazon branded smartphone sometime in 2012.[24]

    Apple Inc. (United States)[25]
    ASRock (Taiwan)
    Asus (Taiwan)
    Barnes & Noble (United States)
    Cisco (United States)
    Dell (United States)
    EVGA Corporation (United States)
    Hewlett-Packard (United States)[26]
    Intel (United States)
    IBM (United States)
    Lenovo (China)
    Logitech (Switzerland)
    Microsoft (United States)
    MSI (Taiwan)
    Motorola (United States)
    Netgear (United States)
    Nintendo (Japan)
    Nokia (Finland)[25]
    Panasonic (Japan)
    Philips (Netherlands)
    Samsung (South Korea)
    Sharp (Japan)
    Sony Ericsson (Japan/Sweden)[27]
    Toshiba (Japan)
    Vizio (United States)

[TiLT]

Yeah, it's a shitty way of doing business that needs to end. Foxconn is extremely huge and well known, so it's surprising that so many companies get away with using them. Maybe people in the west just don't care how many need to suffer or die as long as they get their shiny new iPad?

[gellar]

Maybe people in the west just don't care how many need to suffer or die as long as they get their shiny new iPad?

Totes.

[Captain Caveman]

This week's This American Life (podcast can be found here) was all about the working condition at Foxconn and similar plants in China. Not surprisingly, they are pretty grim.

A great episode. Totally affecting and eye-opening.

[Isgrimnur]

Settlement reached:

Electronics manufacturer Foxconn said it has settled a pay dispute with workers at one of its China factories after the employees protested last week by threatening to commit suicide, The New York Times reported.
...
Most of the workers who participated in the protest agreed to return to work following negations between the company and government officials, according to the newspaper. The company did not release details of the agreement. Forty-five employees resigned over the issue.
...
One individual who participated in the protest told the Times that the workers had been transferred from a Foxconn facility in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to the factory in Wuhan. They were promised $450 a month in salary, plus overtime pay but when they got there, they were given about a third less than what was agreed upon and the conditions in Wuhan were much more difficult.

The workers protested by going to the top of a building and some threatened to jump.