Foxconn deaths hit 11
- Source: Global Times
- [02:30 May 26 2010]
- Comments
Protesters from SACOM (Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour) burn effigies of Apple products in Hong Kong Wednesday during a demonstration over a string of suicides by Foxconn employees. Photo: AFP
By Guo Qiang and Ji Beibei
Folding under the strain of their jobs or perhaps as an extreme show of protest, some Foxconn Technology Group employees are literally jumping to their deaths, and the number of apparent suicides reached double digits Wednesday.
So far this year, it appears 12 employees have attempted to kill themselves, mainly by jumping from their dormitories. Two were unsuccessful. And another employee died of a heart attack in her dorm.
The total number of dead stood at 11 Wednesday, and the toll has led to accusations that the Taiwan-based electronics maker is running sweatshops. Psychological experts have also expressed concern for the general well-being of people's health amid major societal changes.
Li Hai, 19, a vocational-school graduate from central Hunan Province, plunged from a building at Foxconn's Guanlan plant in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, at 6:20 am Wednesday. He had worked there just 42 days, according to Chen Hongfang, director of Foxconn's labor union office, who spoke to reporters Wednesday.
Pending the outcome of an investigation, police declined Wednesday to rule the death a suicide.
But sources familiar with the incident told the Xinhua News Agency Wednesday that the man left a note, which was addressed to his father, saying, "I have no capabilities. I have gotten what I deserve."
The latest death was the ninth at Foxconn's massive factory complex in Shenzhen, which employs 420,000 people, more than half of its global staff. The two employees who survived their jumps were also from that plant.
The two remaining deaths occurred at a Foxconn plant in Langfang, north Hebei Province, in January and February, respectively. Rong Bo died after jumping off the company's dormitory building January 8. And Wang Lingyan, 16, died from a heart attack suffered in her dor-mitory February 23.
A Foxconn employee in Shenzhen, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Global Times Wednesday that the company had requested that staff members sign contracts stipulating that "families of any employee who resorts to self-injury or suicide will not get compensation from Foxconn."
The statement also said that employees exhibiting abnormal behavior must undergo medical checkups that the company would arrange, according to the source, who said he had worked at the plant for more than four years.
"The prescribed work time is from 8 am to 5:30 pm, but workers must come at least 20 minutes earlier and usually leave at 8 pm or 9 pm. They have only two hours for lunch and dinner, and 10 minutes of rest every two hours," he said.
"Some managers often verbally abuse workers."
Foxconn President Terry Gou Wednesday refuted claims that it operates sweatshops. Speaking in Taipei, he also promised to stabilize the situation at the company.
