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Foxconn Shuts Plant as Workers Injured, Arrested in Brawl
- motters 14y agoI'm aware of the problems which have gone on at Foxconn and personally I do not wish to purchase products manufactured in that manner. The main problem is that as a consumer it's hard to distinguish between products constructed within reasonable working practices and other products made under conditions analogous to slavery in prison-like dormitories. So I think there needs to be something similar to "fair trade", but for computing gadgets.
- jaspero 14y agoThere's a Ted talk on fair trade cell phone. http://www.ted.com/talks/bandi_mbubi_demand_a_fair_trade_cell_phone.html http://www.ted.com/talks/bandi_mbubi_demand_a_fair_trade_cel...
- jonknee 14y agoWonder what this will do to iPhone 5 shipments... Probably a lot less than the perceived damage since this will start up another round of working condition articles in Western press. The end result will likely be a shortened timeline for Foxconn's robotics plan. Robots rarely stage protests.
- freehunter 14y agoI wonder what the outcry will be in the press with all the lost jobs, though. That is, if the US/Western press cares to publish articles about Chinese/Taiwanese employees losing their jobs.
- zybler 14y agoIf they do, it will be called 'skynet' and it will likely signal the end of man kind as we know it.
- uvTwitch 14y agoYou know, I think discussions about robotics have their own version of Godwin's law; sooner or later, there's always a comparison to hitler//skynet.
- cantankerous 14y ago"the fight had started between the rival worker groups in Foxconn dorms" Perhaps they mean gangs? I find myself bummed out about the lack of assurance that I can obtain a mainstream mobile product (or, heck, computer-like product) produced in such a way that doesn't, at some point, involve workers in prison-like conditions. Now I can't say with any certainty that I know for a fact that conditions are actually like this, but the rumors and stories you hear from China certainly don't make things sound good. What is one to do?
- dlokshin 14y agoFoxconn employes 1.2Million people. Their largest factory has 300,000+ people [1]. What city of 300,000 do you know that hasn't had a bar fight / civil squabble / etc? It'd probably be more reason for concern if these things weren't happening. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn
- flurie 14y agoWhen was the last time you heard of a "bar fight / civil squabble" that involved a reported 2000 people?
- DavidAdams 14y agoThe word for a "civil squabble" involving 2000 people is "riot." I'd be interested to know what sparked it.
- napierzaza 14y agoI heard a rumour that relying on rumours doesn't make you any less ignorant.
- napierzaza 14y agoThey can't help but mention the iPhone and iPad, even when at the end they admit they were making Nintendo Wiis.
- hologramr 14y ago+ Pro Publica's coverage on this: http://www.propublica.org/article/by-the-numbers-life-and-death-at-foxconn http://www.propublica.org/article/by-the-numbers-life-and-de... + Yes Lab "anti-iPhone" game taken down fr the Apple store moves to Android: http://phonestory.org http://phonestory.org