Foxconn Plant Worker Jumps From Apartment

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It looks as though the peaceful atmosphere didn't last long at Foxconn. :(

Foxconn Technology Group, the main supplier of Apple Inc , said on Thursday a worker at a Chinese plant jumped from his apartment on Wednesday, the first suicide since the company agreed with its U.S. client to improve work conditions.
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The main supplier of Apple, and Dell, and dozens of others.

I HATE selective reporting like this.
 
I always feel shitty hearing these stories out of Foxconn and a bit guilty too. I know we should boycott things made at these plants but it is damn near impossible unless you swear of tech all together. Whats a techie to do?
 
DeathCloud said:
I always feel shitty hearing these stories out of Foxconn and a bit guilty too. I know we should boycott things made at these plants but it is damn near impossible unless you swear of tech all together. Whats a techie to do?
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I make it a point not to buy anything made by foxconn and I haven't had any problems.
These people are killing themselves all the time.
How long ago did the U.S. client try improve work conditions?
 
DeathCloud said:
I always feel shitty hearing these stories out of Foxconn and a bit guilty too. I know we should boycott things made at these plants but it is damn near impossible unless you swear of tech all together. Whats a techie to do?
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Buy american parts damnit, like Asu.... wait..... Acer..... WAIT...... Abi..... DAMNIT.....

FORD!
 
FrEaKy said:
Buy american parts damnit, like Asu.... wait..... Acer..... WAIT...... Abi..... DAMNIT.....

FORD!
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I don't think there are any US auto companies that produce their parts in the states. Most are in Mexico or Canada. Assembled here, but not manufactured. I could be wrong? :confused:
 
DeathCloud said:
I always feel shitty hearing these stories out of Foxconn and a bit guilty too. I know we should boycott things made at these plants but it is damn near impossible unless you swear of tech all together. Whats a techie to do?
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That's an interesting way to present the hypocrisy. I call it a hypocrisy because you're well aware that you don't need the latest and greatest tech and can get by without it. It's not a necessity of modern life despite what others would care to believe. You have the option of not buying electronics associated with these plants. You don't NEED the electronics yet you buy them anyway. In the end, you (and me as well) care more about our latest and greatest gadgets than we do about work conditions and exploitative labor. At least I'm man enough to realize it and admit it :cool:
 
DeathCloud said:
I always feel shitty hearing these stories out of Foxconn and a bit guilty too. I know we should boycott things made at these plants but it is damn near impossible unless you swear of tech all together. Whats a techie to do?
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Do what most people deem the correct thing to do and "vote with your wallet"...god I hate that term...

However, like you said, swearing off Foxconn is swearing off all technology...can't remember the last time I saw an electronic device without something Foxconn somewhere.

Other than that just keep in mind that no matter how "well" these Chinese employees (aka slaves) are treated, they STILL work for hardly nothing...so depression no matter the work conditions are going to be normal. Hell, keep in mind that even here in America people commit suicide over their jobs and life in general.

How many iPods do you have to sell to employ all of Foxconn's employees for one day? 1,532...1 covers the cost of the employees, the other 1,531 cover the cost of the CEO. :p
 
Us hipsters will save the world with our 20 year old equipment outdated the day it was released while other "people" will buy the latest and greatest and get more and more in debt for something outdated the second it was released. Its a cruel cruel system.

The rich get richer and the poor get deader and deader
 
Every time a Foxconn employee jumps to his death, a new Apple product will soon be available in stores.
 
Sad to hear when someone loses their life. Guess They should install THESE all across the country - not just at Foxconn.
 
pelo said:
That's an interesting way to present the hypocrisy. I call it a hypocrisy because you're well aware that you don't need the latest and greatest tech and can get by without it. It's not a necessity of modern life despite what others would care to believe. You have the option of not buying electronics associated with these plants. You don't NEED the electronics yet you buy them anyway. In the end, you (and me as well) care more about our latest and greatest gadgets than we do about work conditions and exploitative labor. At least I'm man enough to realize it and admit it :cool:
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Never go full retard.

Purchasing things helps not only you by giving you products you enjoy and thus improving your quality of life, but it helps everyone around you as well as that is how economies work and people need jobs.

The right thing to do is to continue working hard producing your own services, and to employ services of businesses you feel treat those under their employ with respect such as buying electronics that aren't touched by Foxconn.

The market will reward this and even market towards it accordingly, just as people are buying "free-roam chicken" and "grass fed beef", perhaps we'll see electronics show "cruelty-free labor" rather than the grass-fed chinese labor that's commonplace.
 
And really there is no excuse for this, as Apple has shown that it is bathing in cash with more money reserves than the American government thanks to their rediculously high profit margins on their products.

If Apple really cared, they could resolve the issue tomorrow by sending their own quality person to the Chinese factory which is their current exclusive provider and saying that if the inspector isn't satisfied with the conditions improvement that they will find a new supplier as soon as their contract expires. This would send Foxconn into a panic and they would invest to keep the business. Its as simple as that.
 
Ducman69 said:
perhaps we'll see electronics show "cruelty-free labor" rather than the grass-fed chinese labor that's commonplace.
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No chance.

People may gasp in horror and express condemnation about Foxconn...but once they go to Best Buy in search of a TV, they buy the Samsung that is on sale without a thought about Foxconn.
 
I'm the one going full retard?

from the quote I responded to:

but it is damn near impossible unless you swear of tech all together. Whats a techie to do?
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Which is true. Not buying Foxconn, or anything made in China, limits your choices to pretty much nothing as far as tech goes. This isn't a Foxconn problem but a nationwide, and consequently worldwide issue. "Vote with your wallet" option is only credible if there are other candidates to vote for.
 
wiseoracle said:
I don't think there are any US auto companies that produce their parts in the states. Most are in Mexico or Canada. Assembled here, but not manufactured. I could be wrong? :confused:
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Borg Warner they make you trans parts and brake parts in MOST cars foreign and domestic. US company dated back to late 1800's 3 generations in my family retired from them. there is still some made in U.S.A
 
forgot to add as long as we demand shiny new toys these people will continue to work in these conditions. like anyone here REALLY cares.
 
HisSvt76 said:
forgot to add as long as we demand shiny new toys these people will continue to work in these conditions. like anyone here REALLY cares.
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That is such a stupid way to look at it though, as if you don't demand shiny new toys their lives are even worse.

The sure fire way for these Chinese laborers to be even more stuck in poverty with no chance for education, luxuries, proper medical care, and betterment is if there is no market for their services, and they have to go back to the farms in rural China where they came from.

Buying stuff from China is great for the Chinese economy, but consumers have to get pissed at companies like Apple and protest them and create PR disasters so that it creates enough brand damage that they become motivated to police their whole product lifecycle. Its no different than showing unhygienic and cruel conditions for the meat used for a major highly profitable restaurant chain. When it affects their bottom line and brand image, they will get it fixed ASAP.
 
Occidio said:
I make it a point not to buy anything made by foxconn and I haven't had any problems.
These people are killing themselves all the time.
How long ago did the U.S. client try improve work conditions?
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Do you own a PC, do you own a phone? Right there are tons of components that you bought that are made by foxconn.
 
Guess he heard about the deadline for the new Macbook Pro lineup.
 
Never stops getting old reading forum posts about "don't buy Foxconn" you know where posted from a device that uses some PCB (at least) made by Foxconn.

Many mobos out there now are Foxconn assembled and branded with something else.
 
it is easy money for their family, they earn more money in their lifetime by killing themselves.
 
If you're not buying stuff made by Foxconn, be prepared to avoid the following manufacturers:

Foxconn manufactures products for many companies including:
(country of headquarters in parentheses)
Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
Amazon.com (United States)
Apple Inc. (United States)
Cisco (United States)
Dell (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)
Intel (United States)
Microsoft (United States)
Motorola Mobility (United States)
Nintendo (Japan)
Nokia (Finland)
Samsung Electronics (South Korea)
Sony (Japan)
Toshiba (Japan)
Vizio (United States)
 
Space_Ranger said:
If you're not buying stuff made by Foxconn, be prepared to avoid the following manufacturers:

Foxconn manufactures products for many companies including:
(country of headquarters in parentheses)
Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
Amazon.com (United States)
Apple Inc. (United States)
Cisco (United States)
Dell (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)
Intel (United States)
Microsoft (United States)
Motorola Mobility (United States)
Nintendo (Japan)
Nokia (Finland)
Samsung Electronics (South Korea)
Sony (Japan)
Toshiba (Japan)
Vizio (United States)
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Let's just keep it simple and say they OEM for everyone.
 
Throw in every motherboard manufacturer into that list as well.

Pretty much anything that requires a PCB is made in Foxconn and/or China. Avoiding Foxconn makes little sense when Foxconn treats its workers slightly better than other Chinese plants which also make electronics components.

It really is impossible to avoid having a hand in the exploitative labor practices in China.
 
He worked there for one single month. Doesn't sound like it was the working conditions to me.
 
Occidio said:
I make it a point not to buy anything made by foxconn and I haven't had any problems.
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LOL! How are you posting here on an abacus? :p

Foxconn is literally unavoidable. If you want to live a Foxconn-free life, you'll have to live in a cave and do nothing but carve on the stone wall and read books. Actually now that I think of it, Foxconn stuff might have been used to print those books too...
 
I heard there was an opening at Foxconn. Polish your resumes and get a clean psych evaluation to apply.
 
Occidio said:
I make it a point not to buy anything made by foxconn and I haven't had any problems.
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Good luck with that. Foxconn makes a great deal of the components found on motherboards, GPUs, add-in cards, etc. My guess is you've already got a lot of Foxconn-made components in your rig without even knowing it.
 
FrEaKy said:
Us hipsters will save the world with our 20 year old equipment outdated the day it was released while other "people" will buy the latest and greatest and get more and more in debt for something outdated the second it was released. Its a cruel cruel system.
Click to expand...

Hehe, this just made me realize that I actually do have a Foxconn-free piece of tech in my house...my stereo. Every single piece in it, including my turntable, was made before Foxconn existed. :)

Vintage is the only way to go with audiophile equipment.
 
wiseoracle said:
I don't think there are any US auto companies that produce their parts in the states. Most are in Mexico or Canada. Assembled here, but not manufactured. I could be wrong? :confused:
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Tons of Chinese shit on my Ford car. Even the wheels were manufactured in China. The car itself was simply assembled in the U.S. using parts mostly from abroad.

I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that it has components in it that have passed through or began their life in Foxconn's plants.
 
I think it's hilarious -- everyone is freaking out trying to fix this problem but fail to realize that suicide... as bad as we see it here in the US, is seen in a much less negative light in asian countries. Suicide here is linked to sadness, depression, all that jazz.

While i agree it's a terrible thing - sometimes suicide over there is seen as the only honorable way to end something. Other things like failure/family shame/etc are all closely tied to job performance over there.

"Quitting" a job can be seen as a much more negative thing than killing yourself. We don't understand because that's not our culture.

I'm not putting a giant rubber stamp of approval on suicide at all. I'm just saying that you could pave the dorms with gold and give everyone there a new car and $10,000 more a year and it still would not solve the problem.
 
Ducman69 said:
That is such a stupid way to look at it though, as if you don't demand shiny new toys their lives are even worse.

The sure fire way for these Chinese laborers to be even more stuck in poverty with no chance for education, luxuries, proper medical care, and betterment is if there is no market for their services, and they have to go back to the farms in rural China where they came from.

Buying stuff from China is great for the Chinese economy, but consumers have to get pissed at companies like Apple and protest them and create PR disasters so that it creates enough brand damage that they become motivated to police their whole product lifecycle. Its no different than showing unhygienic and cruel conditions for the meat used for a major highly profitable restaurant chain. When it affects their bottom line and brand image, they will get it fixed ASAP.
Click to expand...

It isn’t stupid, but I know that nothing we do will change the greed and business practices of the rich elite. I don’t try to fill my head with delusions. I also know that the Chinese like many other countries don’t give a shit about there people. And I don’t try to pretend like I really care like some people. And I do not bash one company when many use the same practices if you really cared you wouldn’t buy anything available that is produced in this way. You would be living off the land in your own bubble and not reading or typing anything here. That’s about as real as it gets.
 
Space_Ranger said:
If you're not buying stuff made by Foxconn, be prepared to avoid the following manufacturers:

Foxconn manufactures products for many companies including:
(country of headquarters in parentheses)
Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
Amazon.com (United States)
Apple Inc. (United States)
Cisco (United States)
Dell (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)
Intel (United States)
Microsoft (United States)
Motorola Mobility (United States)
Nintendo (Japan)
Nokia (Finland)
Samsung Electronics (South Korea)
Sony (Japan)
Toshiba (Japan)
Vizio (United States)
Click to expand...
This particular plant thats always in the news though specifically services Apple though, and Apple being a high profile company with no excuse with regard to not being able to afford it and then some with record profit margins (HP and Dell can cite mass layoffs recently), they are the perfect company to make an example of.

Protest them, pickets, online, in forums, twitter, facebook, wherever and do the part to get the word out instead of being an apologist and saying "well others do it too" and when it starts affecting their company image either:
1) They fix it themselves, and even market towards it to set themselves apart.
2) Competitors exploit this bad publicity and make the change to bettering the plight of their factory workers and grabbing Apple marketshare accordingly, requiring Apple to respond in kind.

Dell for example was dinged bad in the press for ecological damage from the waste of their computers and went on massive green campaign. Their less wasteful renewable bamboo packaging and total overhaul of system design and recycling from birth to death of the product cycle really turned them around. And they even exploited it for marketing purposes, with a "plant a tree" option at checkout where if you pitch in a dollar it goes towards Dell's reforestation program. THAT is a much better solution than "well, derpherp we're not the only ones" type of BS excuse.
 
Ducman69 said:
THAT is a much better solution than "well, derpherp we're not the only ones" type of BS excuse.
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Apple is trying to improve worker conditions at Foxconn. I've seen no reports indicating that any other of the companies that contract with Foxconn are. So why would you suggest that they be the ones made an example of?
 
HisSvt76 said:
It isn’t stupid, but I know that nothing we do will change the greed and business practices of the rich elite. I don’t try to fill my head with delusions.
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Give me a break.

You're just making excuses for your apathy, so that you feel no moral responsibility for the exploitation of labor overseas by creating a BS scenario where the only possible action you could personally take is the assinine idea that you'd have to adopt an amish lifestyle.

Where there is a voiced consumer demand, products are soon to follow. A small group of vocal people created the market for organic, cage free, grass fed, etc food that we didn't have in any supermarkets when I grew up but is now commonplace. Raising awareness is the first step and something you can do, if you give a crap, which you admit you don't.
 
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