Nokia and Sony yesterday joined a chorus of concern over labor conditions at Foxconn Technology Group’s (富士康) vast assembly plant in Shenzhen, China, after yet another attempted suicide by a worker who slashed his wrists.
The companies said they were looking into conditions at the factory, following similar pledges by Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Dell.
In an apparent effort to confront a growing tide of bad publicity over the suicides, Foxconn yesterday announced a 20 percent rise in salaries at its China plants.
PHOTO: NICKY LOH, REUTERS
The vow came after another employee survived a suicide bid on Thursday at the vast plant, where 10 have died recently in apparent suicides. An 11th worker died at a Foxconn factory in northern China.
“We are concerned and take this very seriously,” Nokia said in a statement, adding: “Given the concerning reports regarding Foxconn, we are in continuous contact with Foxconn to ensure any issues are identified and addressed as soon as possible.”
The suicides at Foxconn have highlighted concerns over working conditions for the millions of factory laborers who power China’s export-reliant economy.
Sony said it requires suppliers to adhere to a code of conduct and would investigate conditions at Foxconn, which is owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry (鴻海精密).
“In response to recent reports, Sony has begun taking steps to re-evaluate the working environment at Foxconn,” it said in a statement.
Activists and employees have said the workers at Foxconn’s Shenzhen plant face long hours, low pay and heavy pressure.
Dozens of activists protested yesterday outside Hon Hai’s Taipei headquarters, urging it to improve treatment of its workers while unfurling white banners and laying flowers to mourn the dead.
“We urge Hon Hai to respect life and to stop its inhuman and militarised treatment of workers aimed at maximizing profits,” organizer Lin Tzu-wen (林子文) said.
“The workers have to stand all day and they are not allowed to talk. They are treated almost like machines in a sweatshop environment,” he said.
A Foxconn official confirmed media reports that the company was set to raise the salary of its assembly line staff, but stressed that the plan was not conceived in response to the suicides.
Company spokesman Edmund Ding (丁祈安) said the rise in the cash portion of salary packages for all its Chinese workers had been planned for some time. He did not say when the raises would be implemented.
Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) was quoted on Thursday by Taiwanese media as saying Foxconn plans to relocate some facilities and about a fifth of the Shenzhen workforce to western regions of China where many of its workers come from.
Meanwhile, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said he wished everyone could give Guo more encouragement because he works under a lot of pressure.
Wu said Guo and his enterprises contributed a lot to Taiwan’s economy and the world’s, and that he was a man of ambition and competent at business innovation.
“A spate of suicides by employees jumping off buildings in a company drew lots of attention. I wish everyone would encourage Guo more, to help him solve problems,” Wu said.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) also voiced support for Gou, and urged the government to help him.
“I think his problems are the country’s problems,” Wang told reporters. “Our government can contact relevant units [in China] to help deal with the situation. It’s the least the government can do.”
ADDTITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
RSS