Foxconn has been under a lot of fire when it surfaced that a number of employees at its factories committed suicides due to the work load. Being the largest Apple supplier, Foxconn made headlines in US and around the world and human rights activists have been demanding it to improve work conditions. Now, the company has vowed that it will increase the pay of the workers and at the same time, reduce their work hours.
This statement from the company comes at the heels of report from Fair Labor Association in which it has been noted that Foxconn has been violating a number of labor-related injunctions at its three factories in China. Workers were made to work 60 hours per week which included working on Sunday too, thus not letting them have even a single day off. Also, according to the report, if the workers were made to do overtime, they weren’t paid adequately enough to compensate it.
As a result of these allegations, Foxconn’s Chairman, Terry Gou, has promised that the company will make sure that the workers are paid better. According to him, ‘we are saying now in the company, ‘you work fewer hours, but get more pay.’ We won’t stop here and will continue to increase salaries.’
Earlier when Foxconn revealed plans that it may reduce work hours, workers at its factories panicked because they thought this may result in lower wages. Now, Gou’s statement is an affirmation that the wages will, on the contrary, be increased while also reducing the work hours. Let’s hope Foxconn does live up to this promise.
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