Foxconn employees get 16-25% raise, factories facing new environmental audits
With working conditions in Chinese factories still making headlines, Apple manufacturer Foxconn is going to be increasing wages, and Apple is reportedly going to allow independent environmental reviews of at least 2 of their suppliers, with the potential for more to follow. USA Today:
Ma Jun, founder of the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, told USA TODAY in a phone interview Monday that Apple agreed to the independent reviews in late January in response to two reports that IPE and other environmental groups released last year documenting hazardous-waste leaks and the use of toxic chemicals at suspected Apple suppliers. [...] An independent review is necessary to "make sure that (it) is done in a transparent way," said Ma, whose group has had half a dozen meetings and calls with Apple since mid-September.
Because of Apple's size and success, activists are looking to Apple to lead the way and set the standard for responsible manufacturing in China.
Foxconn, one of Apple's principle suppliers and the subject of intense media attention over the last couple of years, has also said they'll be increasing workers' wages, and reducing overtime demands. The New York Times reports:
Foxconn said that salaries for many workers would immediately jump by 16 to 25 percent, to about $400 a month, before overtime.
Foxconn also manufactures products for Dell, HP, and others.
All this follows inspections by the Fair Labor Association and a tour by ABC News Nightline.
Source: USA Today, New York Times
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler. Follow him on Twitter @reneritchie
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iPad 3 16GB starting at $579 now not at $499.
$400/month for 10-12 hour days?!?
No that is $400/month before overtime. I'm fairly sure their standard day is 8 hours and they voluntarily work extra for the overtime pay. They also get free room and board and access to various amenities on the company campus.
So if you take that into account and also adjust for living costs it isn't all that bad. The worst part is simply how monotonous the work is. I wouldn't want to work there, but then any factory job anywhere in the world can be tedious and boring.
Correction, according to the ABC report they are charged $17.50 per month for the room and $0.70 per meal. Still, that leaves $320 per month for any other expenses.
And that's a raise?!?! Damn
New iPhone 5: 550 bucks. But hey I'm happy for them. They need it.
iphones are already more than that.....$650 is the cheapest iphone 4/4s
Wow this is really sad 1 iPhone pays them for a month and they make millions that sounds like crap
They don't get the money, LOL. The company and shareholders do.
Remember the motto of Henry Ford;
He wanted everyone who worked on his assembly lines to be able to afford the cars they helped make.
Wake up Apple. You aren't there yet. Or will that be bad for profits & your stock price?
I agree that Apple should give suppliers incentives to make it possible for employees to get Apple gear at bargain prices in reasonable quantities,a sort of 'familiy and friends' type of action.
Some of those goodies will be offered instantly on Ebay for resale but this will impact Apple sales only marginally and most of all please the zillions of worshippers-believers who will buy even more divine products from them because they are so caring.
This will actually help doing Apple at doing what they already do best currently : making money...
Lets hope I'm wrong about this last thing and that the Ipad3 may see some real innovation, and I don't mean a better camera !
Amen.
Don't thank Apple, Fox"con," or the US. or China etc. Thank the muckrackers and agitators--the only ones that foster real, systemic change.
Anyway, it's a start...
You've gotta consider what the average person makes there before knocking $400 a month. In some countries that's actually quite a bit of money. Cant measure everything by the US standards. Especially since housing is included.
According to Whycircle, Foxconn did not increase wage by 16-25% as promised.
A user named 只為代號 said his wage before the wage increase was 2090 RMB, and after the increase is only at 2300 RMB. Using the lowest % increase that Foxconn promised, he said he should received at least 2424 RMB (2090 * 16%). He felt Foxconn has once again deceived the society and its employees.
Source: http://whycircle.com/discussion/6/foxconn-did-not-increase-wage-by-16-25-as-promised