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[Joseph Davis]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100526/wl_time/08599199162000

LOL BITCH

[NaturalDecimal]

You mean to say... people are becoming anhero?

[jagojon3]

The suicide rate at the factory is still less than the suicide rate of China as a whole.

[Jorsher]

The suicide rate at the factory is still less than the suicide rate of China as a whole.

Yep, it's all being blown way out of proportion.

If you hate a job enough to want to end yourself, then find another one.  I understand it's difficult to find one there, especially one that pays more than Foxconn, but come the fuck on.

Also, the families of people that suicide get 100,000 won, which sounds like an incentive to me.

If people want to point fingers, they need to point at themselves if they own any of the huge variety of devices built there.  People want nice gadgets at cheap prices, and the employees are paid peanuts to cut costs and be competitive.

[CSaddict]

Yeah, if I lived in China I would off myself too.

[Jorsher]

They're the current trash bin for the world.  Their industrialization and ability to cut costs in any way they please has turned it into a shithole.  I was watching something yesterday saying the number of birth defects has risen by 40% just in the past 6 years.











I watched a documentary a while back that showed how big of a shithole it really is, I think it was called Manufactured Landscapes.  As much as I oppose a lot of gov't regulation on industry, this seems like a good example of how our businesses would operate if they had the freedom to.

[ryan89crx]

lol China doesn't give a fuck about anything. Some of the pollution that goes on there is ridiculous.

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/

[rawr2d2]

Yeah we've been fucking china for awhile. First they got them to chase the pipe now we reap the benfits of 100 years of a society destroyed by opium addiction.

[Jorsher]

lol China doesn't give a fuck about anything. Some of the pollution that goes on there is ridiculous.

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/

Thanks, those were the exact pictures I was trying to find.



This was creepy as fuck.

I feel bad for the Chinese.  They can either die of poverty or work their asses off for barely enough money and die later of cancer.

[hammert]

They're the current trash bin for the world.  Their industrialization and ability to cut costs in any way they please has turned it into a shithole.  I was watching something yesterday saying the number of birth defects has risen by 40% just in the past 6 years.


I watched a documentary a while back that showed how big of a shithole it really is, I think it was called Manufactured Landscapes.  As much as I oppose a lot of gov't regulation on industry, this seems like a good example of how our businesses would operate if they had the freedom to.

I've been there on business and there are no rules.

and the rules they do have, nobody follows and they aren't enforced.

its funny how the airconditioning in the plants was only ever on when the customer was there.....sweatshop.

Though I am sure some of the plants are the better places to work, the conditions are still crap.

[Lowerit]

you guys need to look on the bright side.  My friend lives over there and owns a company that imports turbines to North America.

he paid $23 for this chick.............  $23 ...

God bless the chinese , harbour freight and Princess auto

[t_cel_t]

I watched a documentary a while back that showed how big of a shithole it really is, I think it was called Manufactured Landscapes.  As much as I oppose a lot of gov't regulation on industry, this seems like a good example of how our businesses would operate if they had the freedom to.

no, this is what happens when you allow the government to control everything.
chinese people have no guns, the government does. end of story.

[97Econobox]

whats with the creepy dude over her shoulder?

[jagojon3]

That's her pimp

[97Econobox]

ew. does he like have to watch the whole time or something?

[Jorsher]

I watched a documentary a while back that showed how big of a shithole it really is, I think it was called Manufactured Landscapes.  As much as I oppose a lot of gov't regulation on industry, this seems like a good example of how our businesses would operate if they had the freedom to.

no, this is what happens when you allow the government to control everything.
chinese people have no guns, the government does. end of story.

If you believe that companies would not dump toxic waste into rivers/oceans simply because people have guns, you are abso-fucking-lutely retarded.

Under anarchy, possibly the citizens would put a stop to it with guns, but in a "civilized" society nobody is most people are not going to shoot a CEO for dumping toxic waste.

[Doug]

lol China doesn't give a fuck about anything. Some of the pollution that goes on there is ridiculous.

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/

Thanks, those were the exact pictures I was trying to find.



This was creepy as fuck.

I feel bad for the Chinese.  They can either die of poverty or work their asses off for barely enough money and die later of cancer.

Yeah and all we ever hear about here is how bad the  have it. I say we start deporting all of them to China, problem solved.

Also we as a society are just as much to blame as anyone over there. We turn our eyes to the pictures and continue buying China made goods/sending our business over there. If anything I think the US should pass some kind of bill where they won't import goods from nations who don't have certain upheld standards of working conditions and pollution control. That would fuck China royally if we stopped importing from them. Not to mention all the pollution and waste they are dumping out into the air and water is just going to eventually royally fuck up everyone.

[ryan89crx]

That would fuck China royally if we stopped importing from them.

With the U.S. having outstanding loans from China, I doubt putting a trade embargo on them would benefit us at all.

[chris]

A socitey that cares nothing about its neighbor/environment is what creates what China is. Trust me majority of the people there will cut throats for a buck its just how they are. Now look at the united states did when we were the powerhouse of the world did we have close to the level of shitbag business owners dumping whatever into our environments?



This was well before anyone cared about smog or China was even open to the world. Our culture of older days besides letting the government do nuclear testing pretty much will revolt against anyone throwing toxic waste in our back yard.

[Joseph Davis]

I remember Love Canal.

[boosted wagon]

A socitey that cares nothing about its neighbor/environment is what creates what China is. Trust me majority of the people there will cut throats for a buck its just how they are. Now look at the united states did when we were the powerhouse of the world did we have close to the level of shitbag business owners dumping whatever into our environments?



This was well before anyone cared about smog or China was even open to the world. Our culture of older days besides letting the government do nuclear testing pretty much will revolt against anyone throwing toxic waste in our back yard.

No they did it all the time with various hazardous waste such as PCBs etc. If there was not regulation and good media coverage these days it would be no different in the US. Any society where economic growth or money is deemed the measure of success will destroy everything for nothing. In the US corruption or changing of policies to favor corporations is not a issue its a way of life. Sad but true.   

[chris]

Blame the  Jew's

[HiProfile]

You idiots who think any group with absolute control is good are idiots. Absolute power corrupts absolutey. Here's some quick examples to think about (or google):



Government doesn't give a shit, businesses own your asses - Early 1900's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

Government has full control, your just a cog in the machine - USSR.

Nobody has control and acts in self-intrest - 1930's Dust Bowl.




When activists started going apeshit to even the balance, and gov/bus/ppl start working in tandem, shit has always got better.

[Jorsher]

Absolute control?  Not at all.

I just don't believe that there would be enough people that give enough of a fuck to do anything about it.

Is China one of your examples of where the lack of government regulation for industries' waste disposal is beneficial?

[crxvtec91]

social darwinism

[Joseph Davis]

social darwinism

Secular Humanism + Social Darwinism = me.

[chris]

Malt liquor=me

[random-strike]

They're the current trash bin for the world.  Their industrialization and ability to cut costs in any way they please has turned it into a shithole.  I was watching something yesterday saying the number of birth defects has risen by 40% just in the past 6 years.

I watched a documentary a while back that showed how big of a shithole it really is, I think it was called Manufactured Landscapes.  As much as I oppose a lot of gov't regulation on industry, this seems like a good example of how our businesses would operate if they had the freedom to.

except for the fact that the govt controls everything they, including everything they do.

the solution is freedom, and property rights.

if you damage someone else's property you pay. if the govt damages other people's property they get told to screw off. if the govt allows or gives a permit to a company to destroy other people's property, you get told to screw off too.

[Joseph Davis]

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225200765

  EE Times: Latest News

Opinion: Western OEMs must end their complicity in exploiting Chinese workers
 
 
       
 
Bolaji Ojo
EE Times
(06/01/2010 4:32 PM EDT)


Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard are correct. They are not guilty of unfair labor practices in China. Their proclamations of innocence in the wake of recent suicides and attempted suicides by Chinese workers at contract manufacturer Foxconn were unnecessary. After all, how could these OEMs have foreseen the desperate actions of the troubled and unfortunate workers?
So far, no one has directly linked the suicides to working conditions at Foxconn factories or dormitories. Those conditions were approved by the Chinese government, which ultimately is responsible for the welfare of all its citizens. That western OEMs may be guiltless for seeking lower cost manufacturing for their products, however, does not excuse their complicity in fostering the unacceptable conditions Chinese workers must endure.

For at least two decades, profit pressures at Western high-tech equipment makers and other manufacturers have prompted them to overlook working conditions that would be unacceptable in their own countries. The same could be said for consumers clamoring for fancier products that cost less. Now it appears that changes are afoot, and we may all pay a hefty price for refusing to face the realities of manufacturing conditions in China and other low-cost production centers.

To be blunt, the wheels are coming off our low-cost China manufacturing vehicle. It will be years before the clamor for significant changes begins to affect the supply chain, but electronic OEMs must begin to prepare for and even advance the cause of fair labor and wage practices in China and other regions.

It’s a development some should have anticipated, especially since the labor inequalities now being raised by Chinese workers in segments of the economy ranging from mining to high-tech manufacturing were once considered problems in the West.

Apple, Dell and HP, three of the world’s largest consumer electronic equipment manufacturers, still refuse to acknowledge the unjust system that enriched their shareholders and made them global companies with global brands. Last week, after yet another employee suicide at a Foxconn facility in China, Foxconn’s customers issued more worn-out statements confirming their commitment to fair labor practices.

"Apple is committed to ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility wherever our products are made. We insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes," the maker of the iPod, iPad and other widely popular devices said in a statement.

"We continued to take a leadership stance in the ethical recruitment and management of foreign contract workers. We continued to increase the number of facilities audited for compliance with Apple’s Code, completing on-site audits of 102 facilities in 2009, for a total of 190 individual facilities audited since 2007," Apple added.

Apple missed the point. We all did. Facility inspection is good and necessary, but the foundation upon which Foxconn and other contract manufacturers operating in China have built their fortunes and those of the OEM customers is fundamentally flawed. Minimum wages are the norms at these factories and living conditions are unacceptable.

Let’s start with the basic living arrangement for Foxconn workers, many of whom are drawn from China’s remote regions. Workers live in tightly packed hostels and dormitories often situated on company grounds. Do western OEMs believe this is right, and do they understand many of these workers have no other options but to accept this arrangement? Would Apple establish similar living conditions for its employees in Cupertino, Calif., and will the employees at the company’s headquarters find such a system “satisfactory”?

How about HP, Dell, Microsoft, Cisco and IBM? Would their U.S.-based employees, including those recruited straight out of college, consider company dormitories appropriate? Or would they rather these high-tech giants pay them enough to be able to afford decent housing near job locations? Would the U.S. government ever insist workers recruited, for example, from Maryville, Tenn., or Mobile, Ala., should not be granted “residence permits” at a Dell site in Austin, Texas, but instead should live in company hostels?

Living conditions


Workers do not belong in dormitories, hostels or other communal living arrangements. While the reasoning behind the practice -- employees get relatively safe, cheap lodgings while employers benefit from their close proximity to the manufacturing floor—superficially makes sense. They are major advantages to both parties in China, especially in the case of workers who require residence permits to relocate from home towns and villages to large manufacturing centers.

The practice is not new or restricted to China. Workers’ hostels and dormitories are common in other parts of Asia, including in Japan and South Korea where company dorms are also used by managers. Workers who take advantage of this arrangement often do so to save money or because they are single.

In China, however, such living arrangements have become the de facto condition for migrant workers. Foxconn reportedly has about 800,000 employees in China, half of them at its mega-facility in Shenzhen. Employees work under conditions that have been described as tightly controlled or regimented. Workers often spend long hours on factory floors working forced overtime. Under such an environment, it is hard to imagine workers have enough time to unwind and put some psychological distance between working and off hours. Leisure time as we in the west understand it doesn’t exist.

While many will find reasons to justify these conditions—Foxconn chairman and CEO Terry Tai-Ming Guo has been quoted as saying his company does not engage in unfair labor practices—the realities of such a life can result in depression and suicide by hopeless employees working hundreds of miles from supportive social and family structures. It’s also been argued that workers are being given a chance to raise their living standards by companies like Foxconn, which typically pays government-set minimum wages.

But the grim reality is that Foxconn workers toil six days a week tediously assembling high-tech gadgets while earning minimum wages and living 12 to a room in company hostels. By accepting these conditions, we in the west have enabled China’s blistering economic growth and our addiction to cheaper products. We have also fostered a situation where companies like Apple can pump up their market value by making and selling millions of digital music players, smartphones and iPads in conditions few of us in the West would tolerate.

China’s workers are now rebelling against working conditions instituted by Western and Chinese companies and enforced by Beijing. In response to criticism, Foxconn has agreed to increase wages by 20 percent on the average for most employees in China. Honda Motor Corp. says it will raise wages for its Chinese workers by 24 percent.

These companies are offering concessions under pressure as a way to prop up the current, unjust system. China’s workers are demanding better working conditions and better pay. It will take time, but these demands will eventually shake up China’s manufacturing economy and its symbiotic relationship with western customers.

That’s why it’s a shame that Apple and other global OEMs continue, wittingly or unwittingly, to prop up China’s exploitation of its workers.

Frankly, if the chinese workers manufactured a quality product I wouldn't care.

 
 

[Joseph Davis]

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=2&art_id=98955&sid=28456934&con_type=1&d_str=20100603&fc=4


LOL