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FoxConn Workers Furious At Work Hours Cut, Demand More Work
It appears the miracle of unionization has not penetrated Chinese labor markets. Contrary to expectations that suicidal workers would be elated at news that the world's second biggest employer in the world (after Wal Mart) with 1.2 million workers, FoxConn, has given employees "landmark concessions" the reality is actually different. Very, very different. "At the Foxconn factory gates, many workers seemed unconvinced that their pay wouldn't be cut along with their hours. For some Chinese factory workers - who make much of their income from long hours of overtime - the idea of less work for the same pay could take getting used to. "We are worried we will have less money to spend. Of course, if we work less overtime, it would mean less money," said Wu, a 23-year-old employee from Hunan province in south China. Foxconn said it will reduce working hours to 49 per week, including overtime. "We are here to work and not to play, so our income is very important," said Chen Yamei, 25, a Foxconn worker from Hunan who said she had worked at the factory for four years." Hold on, Hold on... You mean to say that whatever values are cherished in the good old US of lazy A, such as bathroom, coffee and cigarette breaks, not to mention "democracy", "American Idol", "high cholesterol", $0.99 apps" and "liberated oil" just may not be appropriate to the 95% of other people around the world? But... But... how will America spread its deeply unique "humanitarian" values of globalized freedom and trade interchange (funded by cheap credit of course - those global debt slaves won't enslave themselves on their own - for more see here), and occasionally using kinetic intervention (never war: one needs Congressional approval for that) when said people dare to express a different outlook, and set of values on life? Preposterous. Nay, Inconceivable!
From Reuters:
"We have just been told that we can only work a maximum of 36 hours a month of overtime. I tell you, a lot of us are unhappy with this. We think that 60 hours of overtime a month would be reasonable and that 36 hours would be too little," she added. Chen said she now earned a bit over 4,000 yuan a month.
Foxconn is one the biggest employers of China's 153 million rural migrants working outside their hometowns. Compared to smaller, mainland-owned factories, workers said, its vast plants are cleaner and safer, and offer more recreation sites.
But even so, for most employees at the Foxconn plant in Longhua, a part of Guangdong province's vast industrial sprawl, life is dominated by the repetitive routine of the production line.
Outside the Foxconn plant, off-duty employees crowded a small shopping mall. Their tightly packed apartment blocks are hemmed by hair salons, snack stores, gaming arcades and Internet "bars", where many while away leisure hours by playing computer games or watching Korean and Hong Kong soap operas.
"I don't go out that much as there is nothing much to do. I do go out for a meal once in a while," said Huang Hai, a 21-year-old man who said he had worked at Foxconn's factory for about two years.
"This is a good company to work for because the working conditions are better than a lot of other small factories."
But at least some deeply seated, no pun intended, US values are starting to seep through:
"I didn't like my first job at Foxconn because it was very repetitive. It was mainly manual work and I had to hammer nails everyday," said Huang. "Now it's better because I work with computers."
Well, as long as "working with a computer" is a good enough substitute for unionization, AAPL's margin expansion in perpetuity is guaranteed. In the meantime, the fact that Chinese wage parity with the US may come as soon as 2017 should not worry anyone who predicts that Apple will sell over $2 trillion in products over the next decade at flat or improving margins. After all when one has a "story" stock, the facts take a back seat.
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If they don't like it there, WalMart will take them.
We as a diseased nation just can't seem to mind our motherfucking business! A politician is essentially a shit that can't mind their business ergo our political system can't mind it's fucking business ergo policemen to its own police state and the world's policeman = is this what we pay regressive taxes for?
my friend's aunt makes $72/hr on the internet. She has been without work for six months but last month her payment was $19183 just working on the internet for a few hours. Here's the site to read more ..... http://lazycash9.com
Fuck off troll!
Does work even exist in Europe anymore?
i am the beast i worship!
Work Ethic...Bytchez
"Think different"... support slave ownership.
Nobody is forced to work there and it seems nobody there minds the overtime. How is that slavery?
This is just a sinister plot by Apple to compress the margins of it's competitors. If manufacturing costs go up Amazon loses more money on every Fire.
Probably the ones who committed suicide minded.
Now thats asian business for you. Companies tend to punish their employees for stupid decisions they make. One of my friends is working in IT in India (yea, better labour situation than China) - she has been asked to come to office at odd hours. It is quite problematic finding transpotation at odd hours. Though the company has a big fleet of their own cabs, they want billing for it. As the client in question is an Asian there is no billing and hence people have to pay for it out of their pocket. If someday you are unable to make it on time, well say goodbye to your job.
Pay attention corporate Amerika, this is what well-conditioned sheep look like. To the new Amerikan worker, this is your future, enjoy.
Exactly. "Workers demanding worse conditions" (based on scientific polling of Foxconn workers, of course) signals the ultimate victory of American style consumer capitalism over the rest of the world, not some "misplaced concern" by do-gooding Westerners. The fact that so many Chinese are already dehumanized worker robots, determined to buy some overpriced highrise condo, overlooking rivers of toxic soup, and green skies, is proof that the AAPL cult has taken over the world.
Most things can be cleaned up with technology. Fukushima excepted.
If you hate the Chinese I would say nuke them now or forever hold your peace.
if it weren't for my all things iPad fetish, i'd certainly say let's nuke the robotic sinkhole of a human slave nation!
We just need an app where the IPads can build themselves. Then everyone can sit around in the holodecks and run that Councelor Troy simulation over and over again.
I'm sensing feelings of lust and lasciviousness.
because China is now ultimately a democratic state more at allows for freedoms such as working until you die; and why not? the people should get what the people want, right? china will soon be legalizing opium.
Yeah, because working hard to pull yourself out of poverty is so sheepish.
Americans paid their dues. The fact that we have to look forward to a future like that is indicative of the extent of the theft that we have been subjected to.
What are you on today?
Dewd, the comment section is at default gallows humor - and often enlightening - and now I'm stating the obvious but doing so to point you out.
Which Americans paid their dues? Oh, you mean via devaluation of currency and savings and general usury. Truly we live in a society with weaponized education, so, we cannot outright blame fellow travellers for lacking understanding of how money actually works, but take it easy, slave. I see this isn't the only comment of yours on this thread...
Many Americans still work hard and so do many other humans in many other countries...to get themselves out of poverty.
Not everyone has to pay to establish a capital base. Americans paid that bill in the 1800's. Asking them to pay it again is like having to rebuild the foundation on the family manor built by your great grandparents.
Central bankers ate the foundation, and the whole thing is probably going to cave in sooner or later, and we will be forced to rebuild it.
The capital base that we built meant that you didn't have to work nearly as HARD to get out of poverty, and once out, it was much easier to stay out. This is what the Chinese are doing for themselves now. Their hard work is building a middle class. Too bad their government is ten times bigger than ours was when we were doing the same. Our central bankers have eaten our capital, meaning we will wind up having to start over at the bottom. There is no excuse for this.
Interesting perspective. I don't quite understand it, but I come to zerohedge for this sort of thing...
+1
Still thinking about a comeback...hmmm
I love this website.
Our central bankers have eaten our capital, meaning we will wind up having to start over at the bottom. There is no excuse for this.
Or perhaps we will just take it back.
LOL!!!!
Everyday is a battle Tom. The day you stop fighting is the day you die. Just because some of the american people "paid dues" does not mean everyone did nor does it mean anyone gets to sit back and stop paying. Life is hard, grow the fuck up already.
Is someone keeping you tied-up in their basement?
Hyperbole is your default setting isn't it? You're a sweet child, a little hyperactive but sweet none-the-less...
Likewise. How many posts for you today?
So you think that all young people should go to fight the British for their freedom too, then, right?
You don't get to just steal the capital that was accumulated 150 years ago because the people who accumulated it are dead. Our birthright has been stolen from us, but you want those who recognize that fact to "grow the fuck up". Fuck you.
You sound like a bankster tool.
Your birthright? You were earning capital 150 years ago? Spoken like another scared lonely old man. No one will steal anything from me or my children. Possesion is now the law. Sorry to hear you are in this state. Again get the fuck over your heritage. Like my father and his before, I served my country so you can fuck yourself when it comes to precisely what you think is your fucking birthright. If you think you can sit on the sidelines and not contribute something every single day of your life, interacting with no one, and still expect to maintain your lifestyle, you are sadly mistaken. Fuck you to Tom. "Our birthright" - you really gave yourself away this time. Might want to take that silver spoon out of your mouth. I hate the bank as much as you, but obviously for different reasons, you are afraid of losing your trust, while I am afraid of losing the money I earned in this lifetime.
You try to call him out about "his" birth right, yet you talk of "your" country, as if you fighting for it gives you a higher standing than him (whether or not that was your intention, that's how it comes across). That's a little spurious.
Does change the fact that Tom feels like the fucking world owes him something because of the uterus he popped out of.. Fuck that, I am not afraid to go earn it, every day. Pussies, all of you.
'Chinese/US wage parity may come as soon as 2017'....so then we'll all be making $1 a day pretty soon, oh HOORAY!
If you're lucky enough to find work...
The ones making $0 a day will be in plenty to remind us to be grateful for what we can get. We'll be begging for more hours like the Foxconn suicidals.
We can all get 0bamabucks to spend at WallyMart. He gets it from his stash
you have Blowjob Ben to support the bankrupt banks and insolvent US Govt and JP Morgan printing foodstamps to prop-up the unemployment cues because the Govt and banks have been destroying the real economy for 50 years
it's not mere concidence Chinas economic boom happened when its bankrupt Govt got out of the way (of the private sector) and Americas unemployment grew as its Govt got ever more in the way of the economy
Govt is the problem
Wow! Demanding MORE work....who are these people who want to work? I keep hearing about them.
Ayn Rand's army?
I used to work 70 hours a week back when I was 20-21 years old at the Texas Instruments plant. There's nothing like a good work ethic for a young person to prepare them for the hardships in life. These days working 40 hours a week is like being on vacation
'In the meantime, the fact that Chinese wage parity with the US may come as soon as 2017 should not worry anyone who predicts that Apple will sell over $2 trillion in products over the next decade at flat or improving margins. After all when one has a "story" stock, the facts take a back seat'
LOL, sweet mercy.
Remember only a couple years ago the big 'story stock' was RIMM at $148.
Yep. There is always someone else out there. Especially in the gadget market.
The U.S wages have a long way to fall. Then who is going to buy an iPhone?
Isn't Obama looking into making all Apple products eligible for SNAP?
I see plenty of SNAPpers at the grocery store with iPhones, Androids, or BlackBerrys...there is very little difference in giving someone gov credit so they can buy a smartphone vs. giving someone gov credit to buy food so they can use their money to buy a smartphone.
To be clear, I'm not against SNAP, I'm against the fraud within the system.
It is true that these are not careers but like going to college for 4 years, the go and live in dorms, work 60-80 hours a week, and are happy to do it. I know it because when I was in manufacturing, we sent a guy to China to see our competitors.. and that's what he came back and reported. Industry was printed circuit boards. It's not nearly 100% gone in the US.
Slaves loving their slavery... Orwell would be proud.
Examine your assumptions. One of them is wrong.
Slaves are NEVER enthusiastic about work.
Bingo. Lack of economic incentive makes slavery unsustainble. Slaves do exactly what is required of them. Nothing more.
It's funny how lazy Americants think that desire to work hard and improve your life is akin to slavery. No wonder businesses are moving overseas. These people came from the impoverished countryside, with no running water, no electricy, and little food. They are happy to find work and be able to help their families survive.
Americants were known for their hard work ethic due to the Great Depression. Men were happy to find work and they worked hard and long hours when they found a job. Now you have soft, feminine men who are afraid to get their hands dirty or break a sweat. Their limp wrists and bony fingers can't handle anyhting more than texting.
Some day they'll discover the miracle of welfare and food stamps and it'll be all over.
yes indeedy.. chuckle ;)
the 'miracle' of socialism, thieving a living instead of working for one
aapl margin squeezing
Thank god somebody wants to work.
That's I've been trying to explain to everybody that has not lived in totalitarian societies in the past:
- China - Controlled Economy - Totalitarian Mindset = Chosen Slavery
- USA - Controlled Economy - Not Totalitarian Mindset (yet) = Gun purchases through the roof = Freedom lovers = No way Obama wins, no chance whatsoever
- Canada - Controller Economy -50% Totalitarian Mindset - Trying to decide whether to choose slavery or freedom - been very long time in the middle
Obama winning is locked in.
If that happens, my conclusion is that the american have adopted totalitarian mentality = chosen slavery.
Chosen slavery...Is there any other kind?
Evil only exists by the consent of the victim.
Evil only exists by the consent of the victim.
This is a good one.
I see lots of young 20-somethings here in the Pacific NW who are all for another term with Obama. They have crappy jobs, drug habits, and pay absolutely no attention to what is going on outside their tiny social thought pool.
Nothign wrong with drug habits! People stuck in shitty jobs need something to enjoy- hopefully it's something comparatively harmless like weed...
It's a good way to stay stuck in a shitty job
When is the invasion?
We need to free the Chinese from themselves!
Do they have oil?
no no no...this is the green economy. The have REE's, and they are not sharing.
This would have surely improve the chances for the success of government's "investment" in Solyndra et all.
But do they like peas?
Don't like it there? Come join our union, the Beaner Union. Want to work more hours, for less pay and no benefits? We're the union for you!
We are never going to beat these people.
They need to be introduced to Eddie Bernays.
Introduce them to rap music and Jersey Shore
Black Americans are the exact opposite of this article's title.
In fact, many want reparations for slavery that happened before their grandparents were even born.
Funny, they are trying to sue the white man for slavery but run out and buy AAPL products made by slaves.
(not to mention African slaves were probably treated better than they were in their native African tribes) -- anyone see Kony2012? Anyone hear about the rampant genital mutilation, or the genocide they commit on their own people (like Rwanda)? Give me a break.
Good burn on the black man! It's ironic to me that in Africa the darker your skin color, the lower your rank in society. Blacks discriminating against blacks. Nice...
Name ANYWHERE in the world inhabited primarily by whites or asians that's like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cK-8UmWwY24
You can't because it doesn't exist. Now look at Detroit, or Compton, or anywhere in the world primarily black -- I bet it's a shit hole.
I've seen some sketchy places in Phnom Penh
Its funny when we try to push our American ideals onto other countries. No American would work in such horrible conditions so neither should anyone else. Yea that's all well and good except for the fact that these horrible jobs are still probably 10,000x better than the rest of the jobs available in China. Americans feel better because we're just debt slaves. At least Foxconn provided housing and meals, when you're student loans bankrupt you you'll just be sleeping on the street.
Since the prime reason for the Foxconn "investigation" was to make a bunch of silly left wing bleeding heart libs happy what difference does it make what the workers think? They aren't entitled to an opinion. Who the hell do they think they are?
americans did work in such horrible conditions (although most were immigrants) and it wasn't that long ago. but
after much effort and loss and tears, they got fairer wages. then the speed of communication increased and
the slave drivers were able to move the work abroad and increase profit.
foxxconn provided housing and meals? sleeping in a bunk with 200 other people and the meal is tea and a bisquit?
is that better than the meal for you and your family being the gut bucket?
The simple truth is these people leave their families 90% of the year to work in a factory on the otherside of the country. They are not interested in leisure time when they are at work. They would rather work more and make more money.
For them it's like going to work on an oil rig.
It's a human mimicking a worker drone bee. It happens to be a corporate capitalist's wet dream.
or in a coal mine or in a gold mine. or at sweatshop factorys producing fabrics or fabric related products.
if apple sits on a fortune of cash and wants to pay out dividends - they should give all the foxxcon workers a cash bonus first.
i'm not so sure that other american companys producing abroad are any better - but i for one am not ever going to buy an apple product. ever. haven't. won't.
steve jobs was so 'visionary' yeah. just more slave labor
Exactly, they have made the decision to work their arses off for a block of time to get ahead. They are there to save as much money as possible which allows them to "get ahead". If employers don't offer enough overtime options they will just search out a part-time job with another employer. A six day week is an honest weeks work for anyone trying to get ahead in China.
This situation gives me added reason to buy an iPhone and maybe an HP laptop. I'm going to help Chinese people eat.
I thought they were supposed to get paid the same for less work under the new plan. That is what one article said, anyway. If that is the case, they need to stop their whining and find a hobby. Maybe read a book about the Haymarket Massacre or something, where people died just so we could have an 8-hour work day.
Now they'll have time to find 2nd jobs.
That will work all for 1-quarter and then you'll read a headline of mass layoffs. These workers aren't stupid, there's only a free lunch on America's Welfare System
So I wonder how many of the workers interviewed were actually Foxconn management in disguise?
It's China. They lie about everything. Every. Fucking. Thing.
Yezzz, China is becoming nicely Westernized.
Not so much. They managed to copy the lying/cheating/bamboozling part of old skool capitalism. That's all they get credit for so far.
"all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"
...or...
"all work and no play makes Homer something something"
From the immortal Bob Seger, one my my Michigan homeboys, singing "Feel Like a Number":
I take my card and I stand in line
To make a buck I work overtime
Dear Sir letters keep coming in the mail
I work my back till it's racked with pain
The boss can't even recall my name
I show up late and I'm docked
It never fails
I feel like just another
Spoke in a great big wheel
Like a tiny blade of grass
In a great big field
The greatest working man song ever, in my esteemed opinion. Steal it or buy it off (IRONICALLY) "iTunes"!
White Collar Holler (Nigel Russell)
Well, I rise up every morning at a quarter to eight
Some woman who's my wife tells me not to be late
I kiss the kids goodbye, I can't remember their names
And week after week, it's always the same
And it's Ho, boys, can't you code it, and program it right?
Nothing ever happens in the life of mine,
I'm hauling up the data on the Xerox line!
Then it's code in the data, give the keyboard a punch
Then cross-correlate and break for some lunch
Correlate, tabulate, process and screen
Program, printout, regress to the mean
Then it's home again, eat again, watch some TV
Make love to my woman at ten-fifty-three
I dream the same dream when I'm sleeping at night
I'm soaring over hills like an eagle in flight
Someday I'm gonna give up all the buttons and things
I'll punch that time clock till it can't ring
Burn up my necktie and set myself free
Cause no one's gonna fold, bend or mutilate me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Nigel Russell and dedicated to the city of Bramalea,
Ontario, Canada.
Recorded by Stan Rogers on Between the Breaks - Live, Fogarty's
Cove Music, FCM-002 DC
If only the fanuc-ing bernanke hadn't pushed up commodities prices so much, foxconn could've afforded to replace these characterless robots with well, characterless robots.
Thanks for the posting. Haven't seen anyone channel Wallace Shawn for quite a while.
Odd, I expected that they would want more pay?
Its like people have forgotten fundamentals altogether. P/E ratio means something! Its how many years of current year earnings are needed to equal the current market capitalization. Can Apple keep its market share and margins and increase profits for 17+ years? Its unlikely. I don't see the upside.
As robotics drop in price, Foxconn will become more automated.
Think about it, at a minimum each worker is maybe $7K per year once you factor in food and living accomodations, overhead of management, HR etc.
For how many hours of work per month? 260 hours, perhaps (50h/week * 4 plus 60 hours overtime per month, per the article). A robot can work continuously and does not require food, living area, sanitation, etc. So a robot can work 650 hours per month or so - as soon as the cost of a robot to replace a worker drops under ~ $20K , the workers are gone.
Yes, and the globalist elites know this.
Their solution to a completely robotized manufacturing sector with hordes of unemployed human beings?
Depopulation through whatever means necessary.
You will still need a lot of electricity, technical specialists, and maintenance and logistics... For sure robotics will only move forward, but because of research costs its still a generation or two away.
It better not be that far out.
We'll need 20 million robots just to wipe the butts of the Baby Boomers once they can't do it themselves.
Give it 5 years. By then we'll either have the robots, or a new class of highly skilled professional butt-wipers dragging down the economy.
This your future:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Unincorporated-Man-Essential-Books/dp/0765318997
"The Unincorporated Man is a provocative social/political/economic novel that takes place in the future, after civilization has fallen into complete economic collapse. This reborn civilization is one in which every individual is incorporated at birth, and spends many years trying to attain control over his or her own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares. Life extension has made life very long indeed."
Yea, you'll have your nanotechnological gadgets and virtual reality but you'll under the boot of a technocratic dictatorship in complete control over your destiny.
"FANUC, the Japanese robotics company, has been operating a "lights out" factory for robots since 2001.[7] "Robots are building other robots at a rate of about 50 per 24-hour shift and can run unsupervised for as long as 30 days at a time. "Not only is it lights-out," says Fanuc vice president Gary Zywiol, "we turn off the air conditioning and heat too."
And what do we do with all of the unemployed?
WIPE THEM OUT BY WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY OF COURSE.
spongebob in china http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4tn02Fguic&feature=related
I love a ZH story that divides the libertarians from the crypto-marxists. Reading these comments, it's perfectly clear who's who...
The workers at Foxconn choose to work at Foxconn, they choose Foxconn over other potential employers, the deal Foxconn offers is good enough to get over a million worker to agree to work for them. The workers are free to exercise their free will. They work their arses off for several years and can return home cashed up in their second or third tier city.
What's the problem?
Neither is Wal-mart the largest employer, nor FoxConn the second largest. Far from it. Indian Nat'l Railways, for one, employ more than 5 mln people.