Apple has been lambasted a lot of late due to the abysmal conditions of the workers in it’s manufacturer’s facilities. Foxconn is one of the Apple’s major component manufacturers and so, it is the target of most criticism, and rightly so. Last year, many Foxconn workers committed suicide due to work load. Now, CNN has interviewed a Foxconn workers who affirms, again, that the work stress at the factory is huge and she has to work 60 hours a week. According to work, her life seems divided between work and sleep.
CNN reported the worker’s name as ‘Miss Chen.’ According to her, she has landed the job at Foxconn only recently and that initially, she was quite excited about it. However, now the work load is getting to her and she can’t bear it any more. According to Chen, “I can’t bear it anymore. Everyday is like: I get off from work and I go to bed. I get up in the morning, and I go to work. It is my daily routine and I almost feel like an animal.” This is quite the norm in the factories of most electronics companies in China where workers have to work 60 hours, and even more, a week. The circumstances are, in no way, limited just to Foxconn factories.
Chen also told CNN that initially she had been told that she will get sick leave and benefits once she joins the factory. However, now she has been told that such benefits are exclusive only for senior employees. Moreover, the factory administration also stops the workers from speaking to any press about factory conditions and threatens them with ‘criminal liability’ if they told anyone about it.
According to analysts, this abuse of labor rights is not limited only to Foxconn and that most manufacturers around China tend to indulge in similar practices.
Image courtesy mwithheat.
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In China, we call it ‘sweatshop’.
In China, we call it ‘sweatshop’.