Foxconn 'faces another strike' in China

[OhioChick]

Source: France 24 International

12 January 2013 - 13H02

AFP - Over 1,000 workers went on strike over working conditions at a plant linked to Foxconn, a rights group said on Saturday, in the latest controversy to hit the Taiwanese technology giant.

Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) said the strike erupted at a Foxconn factory in Fengcheng, Jiangxi province, Thursday, with over 1,000 workers taking to the streets the following day.

But electronics manufacturer Foxconn denied ownership of the plant, describing it as a "supply chain factory".

Foxconn, which assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia, has come under the spotlight in recent years after suicides, labour unrest and the use of underage interns at its Chinese plants.

Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/20130112-foxconn-faces-another-strike-china

[Warpy]

1. I am so glad to see this finally happening

Corporate bosses saw the Chinese workers as a bunch of blue ants, doing whatever they were told to do without question and accepting any sort of mistreatment over long hours and appalling living conditions as they're basically warehoused 8 to a room between their long working shifts.

The Chinese workers deserve much better and they know it. They are finally kicking the owners where it hurts them the most, their wallets.

[pampango]

2. Nice article about labor unrest in China posted here last week.

Last edited Sat Jan 12, 2013, 07:42 PM - Edit history (1)

Today, the Chinese working class is fighting. More than thirty years into the Communist Party’s project of market reform, China is undeniably the epicenter of global labor unrest. While there are no official statistics, it is certain that thousands, if not tens of thousands, of strikes take place each year. All of them are wildcat strikes – there is no such thing as a legal strike in China. So on a typical day anywhere from half a dozen to several dozen strikes are likely taking place.

More importantly, workers are winning, with many strikers capturing large wage increases above and beyond any legal requirements. Worker resistance has been a serious problem for the Chinese state and capital and, as in the United States in the 1930s, the central government has found itself forced to pass a raft of labor legislation. Minimum wages are going up by double digits in cities around the country and many workers are receiving social insurance payments for the first time.

http://jacobinmag.com/2012/08/china-in-revolt/

[liberalmike27]

3. Good for Them

What is good for their labor, is good for ours. Sadly, if it finally gets where it is more expensive to manufacture product there, than here, they'll just find another country one step down the chain to move production to, until they are all gone.