Mass Suicide Threats at Xbox 360 Plant

[peekay]

Am I the only one that would pay more for electronics to improve these poor people's working conditions?

BTW, This is proof that it is NOT an apple issue. (Like some of you believe)

 

http://kotaku.com/5874706/report-mass-suicide-threats-at-xbox-360-plant

 

Report: Mass Suicide Threats at Xbox 360 Plant

 

On Jan. 2, over 300 employees at a Foxconn plan in Wuhan, China threatened to throw themselves off a building in a mass suicide. Foxconn makes Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony products. These workers manufacture Xbox 360s.

 

According to Chinese anti-government website China Jasmine Revolution (via Watch China Times), the workers were protesting denied compensation they were promised.

 

On Jan. 2, the workers asked for a raise. Foxconn told them they could either keep their jobs with no pay increase or quit and get compensation. Most decided to quit with compensation. However, the agreement was supposedly terminated, and the workers never received their payments.

 

Website Record China reported that the uproar the incident actually caused Xbox 360 production to be temporarily suspended.

 

The mayor of Wuhan intervened to talk down the group down, and on Jan. 3 at 9pm, the group of 300 decided not to jump, ending what could have been a deadly game of chicken.

 

Suicides at Foxconn made major news in 2010 when over a dozen employees committed suicide, leading to Foxconn installing suicide prevention nets at some of its facilities.

 

In 2010, Kotaku asked Microsoft about Foxconn and the reported abuses. Microsoft's Phil Spencer said at the time, "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."

 

Kotaku is following up with Microsoft over this latest incident.

[MtlMan]

Un pays communiste est devenu le rpyaume du capitalisme le plus sauvage. Quelle ironie.

[LindbergMTL]

J'entendais sur Bloomberg l'autre jour que les couts de la main-d'oeuvre de la Chine ont maintenant rejoint ceux du Mexique. Les choses évoluent très vites là-bas, je ne crois pas que la structure politique du pays va rester comme ça bien longtemps. Je m'attends à un "printemps chinois" d'ici 5 ans et une refonte majeure du pays dans les 10-15 prochaines années.

[monctezuma]

J'espère que ça pourrait calmer les prétentions impérialistes de la Chine. On a assez de l'Iran...