From The Times
May 14, 2010
Concern as sixth Foxconn worker commits suicide
Mike Harvey, Technology Correspondent
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Foxconn Technology, the world’s biggest contract maker of electronics, has been forced to answer allegations about the welfare of employees in China after its sixth worker committed suicide this year. The company, part of the giant Hon Hai Group, has a factory with more than 300,000 workers in Shenzhen, a southern Chinese city, where this week, a 24-year-old worker jumped from her rented apartment.
Foxconn is the main supplier for Apple products, including the iPhone and iPod, and makes components for most of the leading electronics and computer companies in the world, including Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Intel. It is also the leading contract maker of mobile phones, manufacturing handsets for Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson. After the latest death, the company said: “We regret to see the recurrence of such incidents.”
The suicides have prompted Foxconn management to invite monks from Wutai Mountain, one of the most sacred Buddhist shrines, to pray for a positive working environment.
Liu Kun, director of Foxconn’s press office, told China Daily: “The victims’ families asked us to bless the dead and release their souls from suffering, and we will do everything we can to prevent such accidents in the future.”
A week ago a 24-year-old male factory worker, from Hunan province, committed suicide by jumping from a dormitory building. Reports said that he had been displaying abnormal behaviour and the company had asked his family to come and support him. Another worker also leapt to his death on March 11, after his bonus was apparently stolen. Three other workers, all aged between 18 and 24, have also jumped to their deaths since January.
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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article7125994.ece