Foxconn Workers Getting Raise With Apple Subsidies 284
hackingbear writes "Workers at Taiwanese electronic outsourcing manufacturer Foxconn are getting a pay raise after a series of 13 suicides, including three in three consecutive days. According to an article by state-run newspaper China Daily, Apple concluded that the main cause of the suicides is low wages. (The media has also attributed the suicides to a variety of other factors — everything from the semi-military style of management, to long overtime, to China's one-child policy, and Foxconn paying too much compensation to the family of suicide workers, thereby encouraging copycat suicides.) Apple plans to subsidize raises using its own products (Google translation; Chinese original here) — the first one being the iPad. This would raise the outsourcing cost from 2.3% to 3% of the iPad's sales price. The article does not say the amount of the raise per worker, but it is rumored to be about 20%, according to other Chinese news sources."
We can only hope... (Score:5, Funny)
That enough of their souls are still poured into these incredible, sleek products to maintain the extremely high level of magic and wonder we've become accustomed to finding in each amazingly designed box.
The dark, Satanic mills of Apple (Score:5, Funny)
You can do anything you set your mind to when you have vision, determination, and an endless supply of expendable labor. [despair.com]
Re:Apple-haters in 3,2,1,... (Score:3, Funny)
I blame Apple for the coming increase in suicide rates at competing factories.
Dang (Score:4, Funny)
The problem is quantum mechanics (Score:3, Funny)
It's been shown that you have an infinitesimally small but real chance of not actually existing. It's difficult to aim for 100% when the best reality itself can offer is 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999%
I blame Planck myself.
Re:We can only hope... (Score:2, Funny)
That enough of their souls are still poured into these incredible, sleek products to maintain the extremely high level of magic
Human sacrifice is necessary to maintain high levels of magic.
Anyway now we see the true cost of doing business in China: becoming infested with socialist ethical concerns. A company I once respected for its aggressive business practices, its devotion to good design and ruthless profit maximization is proposing to do what. Raise workers pay by 20%!?
That's it Apple, I'm outa here. Now for my next laptop ... which PC manufacturer is down the bottom of the Greenpeace tech rankings at the moment ...