In this May 27, 2010 file photo, workers cling to the logo at the entrance of the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. A pledge reported Thursday, March 29, 2012 by the manufacturer of Apple's iPhones and iPads to limit work hours at its factories in China could force other global corporations to hike pay for Chinese workers who produce the world's consumer electronics, toys and other goods.
Automation will help, but, Foxconn employees may want to organize to protect their jobs. They could have made these changes a long time ago and saved lives. Apple can be said to be influential in changing labor conditions in China. I congratulate them. It only goes to prove intangible values matter.
...But the policy change (click title to entry - thank you) also means the electronics manufacturer will need to hire a significant number of extra workers to make up for the lost hours, the audit said. Foxconn already employs 1.2 million workers in China.
Labor costs in China, however, only a make up a small fraction of a product's total cost, said Helen Chiang, an analyst with research firm IDC. In the case of a PC, the labor cost will only amount to three to four percent of its price, she said.
Foxconn is also expanding its factory base into central and western China, where worker wages are lower. This is expected to bring down Foxconn's labor costs by 20 to 30 percent, Chiang said.
"I don't think the new policies will have much impact on product prices," she added. "Foxconn has already been working to resolve these labor costs."...
According to the Globe and Mail there won't be any loss of an average of $634.00 per month. They need to organize and protect their interests.
...Foxconn’s concessions, (click here) including cutting overtime for its 1.2 million mainland Chinese workers while promising compensation that protects them against losing income, were backed by Apple, which has faced criticism and media scrutiny for worker safety lapses and for using relatively low-paid employees to make high-cost phones, computers and other gadgets....
“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. Mr. Chen said she now earned a bit over $634 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....
Apple invested in the opinion from Fair Labor Association seriously....Those details and more were released (click here) Thursday afternoon by the Fair Labor Association (FLA) based in Washington, D.C., of which Apple is a member. Apple agreed earlier this year to participate in an audit of its factories to monitor working conditions, pay, and safety issues. FLA conducted surveys at three Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China during February and March.
The extensive audit supports what critics have been saying for years. Apple's main contractor in China is accused of ignoring safety while forcing its workers to do excessive overtime on the assembly line....
