6502.org

Normally, when someone dies, one either says nothing or one draws attention to some positive aspect of their life.

Bear in mind that the original Apple microcomputer and the Apple ][ were both important and influential 6502-based designs, and that Steve Wozniak found only good things to say about Jobs when interviewed about his demise.

Is it too much to ask that we act with as much class, at least in a topic such as this?

Little Claws
He said he met employees as young as 12 years old. He met others in their 20s whose hands had devolved into claws, their joints disintegrated after years of 12-hour-plus days.

“It’s like carpal tunnel on a level we’ve never seen,” he said, describing the pressure on the nerve in the wrist that supplies feeling and movement to parts of the hand.[Unquote]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-1 ... eview.html

http://images.apple.com/supplierrespons ... Report.pdf

64 facilities had violations in engineering controls. For example, we
found machines that were missing safety devices, such as gear guards
or pulley guards.

95 facilities had violations in administrative controls. For example,
facilities did not conduct regular safety inspections, and workers who
performed specialized tasks did not have legally required licenses or
certifications.

54 facilities had workers who were not wearing appropriate personal
protective equipment (PPE), such as earplugs, safety glasses, and dust
masks. In some instances, the facility had not provided the appropriate
safety equipment. In others, the workers neglected to use the
equipment or were using it improperly.

47 facilities did not have appropriate first-aid supplies for emergency
situations. For example, there were no eyewash stations in areas where
chemicals were used or stored.

78 facilities did not have properly maintained fire detection and
suppression equipment. For example, access to some fire hydrants
or fire extinguishers was blocked, and some fire extinguishers were
placed on the ground.

81 facilities did not have adequate exit paths for emergency
situations. For example, we found narrow evacuation aisles or locked
emergency exits.

I'd rather be remembered by being ethical in my evaluations rather than being polite at the expense of other people's worth and values (the Chinese worker).

Foxconn is getting up to 300,000 robots to replace humans in the manufacturing of products because of worker's rights violations, suicides (workers can't talk to one another), and exposure to chemicals.

Foxconn's suicide rate is less then the rest of China. 14 employees for almost a million of them. That is a suicide rate of 1.5 per 100,000. China has about 14 suicides per 100,000 people. Canada has 11.5 per 100,000 and the US 11 per 100,000.

The company also did what they were told to build the products, and when people got sick they stopped and paid for all of the effected workers medical treatments that lasted over a year for many, and gave them their jobs back when they were healthy again which the workers went back to.

China also has more favorable work hours, same 8 hour work day, but reason its listed as 10 or even 11 hours a day, is because breaks do not count. So when they get a 2 hour lunch break to get a home cooked lunch, and even nap for some who have longer lunch breaks it doesn't count towards the 8 hours. Just like here in Ontario anyways.

Also any "over time" above 8 hours a day must be paid out 150% for work days, 200% for "rest days" (weekends), and 300% for holidays. They get 11 holiday days off, and 2 of them are 3 days long, and its combined with slightly longer work weeks before and after so they can get a full week off instead of just 3 days so people can go to their home towns and be with family.

In the past year, minimum wages in China has gone up between over 15% to 38% this year, and wages have basically doubled since about 2004.

Dimitri

China also has a repressive, brutal government and treats its people as an expendable resource. The USA's suicide rate may well be 11 times that of China (I'd like to see the source for that statistic) but at least it isn't due to being treated like cattle heading to the slaughterhouse.

Fell from apartment building[18][20] after losing an iPhone prototype in his possession.[21] Prior to death, he was beaten and his residence searched by Foxconn employees.[21]

Died suddenly two hours after being discharged from work[19]

Interviews of 1,800 Foxconn workers at 12 factories found evidence of illegal overtime and failure to report accidents.[2] The report also criticized Foxconn's management style, which it called inhumane and abusive.[2]

What had seemed to be a series of isolated incidents was becoming an appalling trend.

My hosts are eager to help me answer that question in the negative by pointing out how pleasant life in the factory can be. They are quick with the college analogies: The canteens and mess halls are “like a college food court.” The living quarters, where up to eight workers share rooms about the size of a two-car garage, are “like college dorms.” The avenues and boulevards in the less industrial parts of the campus are “like malls.”

In the past three months, the factory has been losing 50,000 staff a month because workers are burning out,” he said.

The workers we have spoken to say that their hands continue to twitch at night, or that when they are walking down the street they cannot help but mimic the motion. They are never able to relax their minds,” he said.

A further 20 people were stopped by the company before they could attempt to kill themselves.

Also any "over time" above 8 hours a day must be paid out 150% for work days, 200% for "rest days" (weekends), and 300% for holidays. They get 11 holiday days off, and 2 of them are 3 days long, and its combined with slightly longer work weeks before and after so they can get a full week off instead of just 3 days so people can go to their home towns and be with family.

In the past year, minimum wages in China has gone up between over 15% to 38% this year, and wages have basically doubled since about 2004.

Dimitri

Apple concluded in a 2007 report that some employees were working more than Foxconn's mandated maximum hours during peak production times and that many workers were getting insufficient days off.

"I do the same thing every day," says Xiao, who says he has considered suicide. "I have no future."

“But, see, arguments about national averages are a smokescreen. Sure, people kill themselves all the time. But the Foxconn people all work for the same company, in the same place, and they’re all doing it in the same way, and that way happens to be a gruesome, public way that makes a spectacle of their death. They’re not pill-takers or wrist-slitters or hangers. They’re not Sylvia Plath wannabes, sealing off the kitchen and quietly sticking their head in the oven. They’re jumpers. And jumpers, my friends, are a different breed. Ask any cop or shrink who deals with this stuff. Jumpers want to make a statement. Jumpers are trying to tell you something.

Also, consider this. Walmart has 1.4 million employees in the United States. Can you remember a time when 10 or 15 Walmart workers jumped to their deaths from the roofs of Walmart stores over the course of a few months? Have you ever heard of Walmart asking employees to sign a no-suicide contract, or putting safety nets up on all of its buildings? If this did happen, would you think maybe something is going on at Walmart? Or would you just say, well, 10 or 15 people out of 1.4 million is still waaaay below the national average?”

The suicide rate of China is 13.8 people per 100,000.

The suicide rate of the US is 11.1 people per 100,000.

The suicide rate of Foxconn employees is at 1.5 people per 100,000.

Dimitri

...Seriously: wouldn't we all be happier if we just didn't raise political or other hot-button issues on this technical forum?...