Foxconn suicides
{{Short description|Series of deaths in Foxconn City, China}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
The Foxconn suicides were a spate of suicides linked to low pay and brutal working conditions at the Foxconn City industrial park in Shenzhen, China, that occurred alongside several additional suicides at various other Foxconn-owned locations and facilities in mainland China.{{cite news |author=Mozur |first=Paul |date=19 December 2012 |title=Life Inside Foxconn's Facility in Shenzhen |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/12/19/life-inside-foxconns-facility-in-shenzhen/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221226095450/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/BL-CJB-17008 |archive-date=26 December 2022 |access-date=21 December 2014 |work=The Wall Street Journal}} The series of suicides drew media attention, and employment practices at Foxconn—one of the world's largest contract electronics manufacturers—were investigated by several of its customers, including Apple and Hewlett-Packard (HP).{{cite news |author=Dean |first=Jason |last2=Tsai |first2=Ting-I |date=27 May 2010 |title=Apple, H-P to Examine Asian Supplier After String of Deaths at Factory |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704026204575267603576594936 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241115014220/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704026204575267603576594936 |archive-date=15 November 2024 |access-date=29 May 2010 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}
Events of suicide
=Pre-2010=
While 2010 was a notable year for the company in the number of suicides, preceding years saw suicides being reported as well.
=2010=
= 2011 =
=2012=
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
| English name
!Chinese name !Sex !Age !Suicide attempt date !Description !Status | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Unknown | Male | 23 | 14 June 2012 | Threw himself from building | Deceased{{cite news |author=Jim |first=Clare |date=14 June 2012 |editor-last=Popeski |editor-first=Ron |title=Foxconn says plant worker jumps from apartment |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-foxconn-idUSBRE85D0S120120614 |access-date=14 June 2012 |agency=Thomson Reuters}} |
Additionally, 150 Chinese workers threatened suicide in protest on 2 January 2012.{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Malcolm |date=11 January 2012 |title='Mass suicide' protest at Apple manufacturer Foxconn factory |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9006988/Mass-suicide-protest-at-Apple-manufacturer-Foxconn-factory.html |work=The Daily Telegraph}}
=2014=
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
| English name
!Chinese name !Sex !Age !Suicide attempt date !Description !Status | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xu Lizhi | 许立志 | Male | 24 | 30 September 2014 | Threw himself from building | Deceased{{Cite web |date=2 May 2013 |editor-last=Runze |editor-first=Yu |title=Two more suicides at Foxconn |url=http://english.sina.com/china/p/2013/0501/587095.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616070151/http://english.sina.com/china/p/2013/0501/587095.html |archive-date=16 June 2016 |website=Sina English}} |
=2016=
Eva Dou of The Wall Street Journal reported the suicide of a 31-year-old night shift worker at Foxconn's production building in Zhengzhou on 18 August 2016.{{Cite web |last=Sin |first=Ben |date=22 August 2016 |title=Latest Foxconn Worker Deaths Build Case For Apple To Move Operations From China |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2016/08/22/the-real-cost-of-the-iphone-7-more-foxconn-worker-deaths/ |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Dou |first=Eva |date=2016-08-21 |title=Deaths of Foxconn Employees Highlight Pressures Faced by China's Factory Workers |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/deaths-of-foxconn-employees-highlight-pressures-faced-by-chinas-factory-workers-1471796417 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240618110354/https://www.wsj.com/articles/deaths-of-foxconn-employees-highlight-pressures-faced-by-chinas-factory-workers-1471796417 |archive-date=18 June 2024 |access-date=2025-03-21 |work=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}
=2018=
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||||
| English name
!Chinese name !Sex !Age !Suicide attempt date !Description !Status | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Li Ming | 李明 | Male | 31 | 6 January 2018 | Threw himself from building | Deceased{{Cite news |last1=Fullerton |first1=Jamie |date=7 January 2018 |title=Suicide at Chinese iPhone factory reignites concern over working conditions |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/07/suicide-chinese-iphone-factory-reignites-concern-working-conditions/ |newspaper=The Telegraph}} |
Response
=Foxconn clients=
Apple issued a public statement about the suicides, and company spokesperson Steven Dowling said "[Apple is] saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn... A team from Apple is independently evaluating the steps they are taking to address these tragic events, and we will continue our ongoing inspections of the facilities where our products are made." The statement was released after the results from the company's probe into its suppliers' labor practices were published in early 2010. Foxconn was not specifically named in the report, but Apple suggested poor treatment of workers in facilities that manufacture its products may include violations of labor laws, violations of Apple's own rules for suppliers, and child labor (workers as young as 14 could legally work in China through special programs around the time this report was compiled).{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}
Apple committed to the implementation of changes following the suicides, but in late 2014 news reports of labor issues at another factory of a Chinese supplier also surfaced.{{cite news |date=19 December 2014 |title=Apple under fire again for working conditions at Chinese factories |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/19/apple-under-fire-again-for-working-conditions-at-chinese-factories?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2 |access-date=20 December 2014 |work=The Guardian |agency=Agence France-Presse}}
=Reports=
The 2010 suicides prompted 20 Chinese universities to compile an 83-page report on Foxconn, which they described as a "labor camp". Interviews of 1,800 Foxconn workers at 12 factories found evidence of illegal overtime and failure to report accidents. The report also criticized Foxconn's management style, which it called inhumane and abusive.{{cite news |author=Tam |first=Fiona |date=11 October 2010 |title=Foxconn factories are labour camps: report |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/727143/foxconn-factories-are-labour-camps-report |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220712072320/https://www.scmp.com/article/727143/foxconn-factories-are-labour-camps-report |archive-date=12 July 2022 |work=South China Morning Post}} Additionally, long working hours, discrimination towards Mainland Chinese workers by their Taiwanese coworkers,{{Cite web |date=25 May 2010 |editor-last=Yidan |editor-first=Xiao |title=富士康管治双重标准 员工有冤上诉无门 |url=http://hk.stockstar.com/2010/05/2510087523186.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921055650/http://hk.stockstar.com/2010/05/2510087523186.shtml |archive-date=21 September 2010 |access-date=12 August 2010 |website=Stockstar.com |language=zh}} and a lack of working relationships{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Malcolm |date=16 May 2010 |title=What has triggered the suicide cluster at Foxconn? |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/100039883/what-has-triggered-the-suicide-cluster-at-foxconn/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518163618/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/100039883/what-has-triggered-the-suicide-cluster-at-foxconn/ |archive-date=18 May 2010 |access-date=2010-07-09 |work=The Daily Telegraph |department=Telegraph Blogs |location=London}} were all presented as potential problems in the university report.
A 2012 audit of Foxconn performed by the Fair Labor Association, at the request of Apple Inc., suggested that workplace accidents might be commonplace and that workers may consider overtime pay insufficient.{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Matt |date=29 March 2012 |title=Foxconn audit finds illegal overtime and unpaid wages at Apple factory |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/mar/29/apple-foxconn-audit-labour-violations |access-date=2012-05-29 |newspaper=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media Ltd}}
= Crisis management =
During the first two and a half months, which included six of the fourteen deaths from suicide, Foxconn took a "no comment" approach to their business crisis.{{Cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Kaibin |last2=Li |first2=Wenqing |date=1 October 2013 |title=An Ethical Stakeholder Approach to Crisis Communication: A Case Study of Foxconn's 2010 Employee Suicide Crisis |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42001855 |journal=Journal of Business Ethics |publisher=Springer Nature |volume=117 |issue=2 |pages=371–386 |doi=10.1007/s10551-012-1522-0 |s2cid=153590623 |jstor=42001855}} This left them vulnerable to media attacks, allowing the media to fill in their own information about the suicides.{{Cite book|title=Business and Society|last1=Carroll|first1=Archie|last2=Buchholtz|first2=Ann|publisher=Cengage Learning|year=2012|location=Stamford, CT|pages=168}} Li and Xu made a statement, in their case study about the business' suicides, that "Foxconn's series of employee suicides were severe events in the mind of the general public, and its 'no comment' strategy led to a more negative perception of its reputation and severe consequences." After the sixth suicide, Liu Kun, a spokesperson for Foxconn, stated that they were handling the crisis. He also started using a "denial strategy" to avoid any blame for the suicides and instead directed the fault at "the victims and societal problems."
One of the ways Foxconn started handling the crisis was to require that employees sign a waiver stating that Foxconn would not be made liable if any individuals were to die by suicide.{{Cite web |last=Heffernan |first=Margaret |date=7 August 2013 |title=What Happened After the Foxconn Suicides |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-happened-after-the-foxconn-suicides/ |website=CBS News |publisher= |agency=MoneyWatch}} This, however, caused more troubles for Foxconn and they eventually retracted the document. After they removed the waiver, they installed safety netting around the facility to prevent future suicides. Foxconn also implemented a pay raise from 950 yuan to 1200 yuan, but they in turn increased their quota by twenty percent as well.{{Cite journal|last=Ngai|first=Pun|date=29 June 2012|title=Global Capital, the State, and Chinese Workers: The Foxconn Experience|journal=Modern China|pages=383–410|doi=10.1177/0097700412447164|s2cid=151168599|url=http://osf.io/zyxvk/}} Lastly, Foxconn opened their doors to two-hundred journalists. Foxconn informed the writers that they were taking extra steps for the future; which included safety netting and more help hotlines for employees to be able to call.
=Foxconn=
The chairman of Foxconn, Terry Gou, made the following statement at a press conference focused on the controversy: "We are certainly not running a sweatshop. We are confident we'll be able to stabilize the situation soon. A manufacturing team of 800,000 people is very difficult to manage." At the time of the company's press conference, the factory complex where the deaths occurred employed up to 300,000 people.
In response to the suicides, Foxconn substantially increased wages for its Shenzhen factory workforce,{{Cite news |last=Kwok |first=Donny |date=27 July 2010 |editor-last=Wills |editor-first=Ken |title=Foxconn suspends operation at a facility in India |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE66Q00G20100727/ |work=Reuters}}{{Cite news |last=Blanchard |first=Ben |date=1 October 2010 |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Valerie |title=Foxconn to raise wages again at China plant |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6902GD20101001/ |work=Reuters}} installed suicide-prevention netting,{{Cite web |last=Van Buskirk |first=Eliot |date=18 August 2010 |title=Foxconn Rallies Workers, Leaves Suicide Nets in Place (Updated) |url=https://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/08/foxconn-rallies-workers-installs-suicide-nets/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120530132522/http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/08/foxconn-rallies-workers-installs-suicide-nets/ |archive-date=2012-05-30 |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=Wired |language=en-US}} brought in Buddhist monks to conduct prayer sessions{{cite news |date=27 May 2010 |title=Light and death: A series of deaths expose a big computer-maker to unaccustomed scrutiny |url=http://www.economist.com/node/16231588 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240502100307/https://www.economist.com/business/2010/05/27/light-and-death |archive-date=2 May 2024 |access-date=20 December 2014 |newspaper=The Economist |department=Business |publisher=The Economist Newspaper Limited}} and asked employees to sign no-suicide pledges.{{cite web | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna37354853| title=Chinese Factory asks for 'no suicide' vow | work=NBC News | date=26 May 2010 |access-date=2010-05-26}} Workers were also required to sign a legally-binding document guaranteeing that they and their descendants would not sue the company as a result of unexpected death, self-injury or suicide.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
=Protests=
File:Protest_against_Apple_for_ignoring_Foxconn's_Labor_Conditions.JPG protests in 2013 at the opening of the first Apple Store in Hong Kong over labor rights violations in its supplier factories Foxconn and Wintek.{{Cite web |last=Siu |first=Phila |date=2013-02-27 |title=Activists push Apple over work conditions |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1159296/activists-push-apple-over-work-conditions |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250321043526/https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1159296/activists-push-apple-over-work-conditions |archive-date=21 March 2025 |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}]]
In May 2010, the Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) group held a protest in the lobby of Foxconn's Hong Kong headquarters. Around 25 protestors laid mannequins to rest and conducted funeral rites, while a spokesperson informed the media and onlookers: "We are staging the protest because of the high death rate [at Foxconn], with an abnormal number of workers committing suicide in the past five months".{{cite news |author1=Moore |first=Malcolm |date=25 May 2010 |title=Protest at Chinese iPad maker Foxconn after 11th suicide attempt this year |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7763699/Protest-at-Chinese-iPad-maker-Foxconn-after-11th-suicide-attempt-this-year.html |access-date=20 December 2014 |work=The Telegraph}} Activists from the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions were also present and held signs that read "Foxconn lacks a conscience" and "Suicide is no accident". They also burned cardboard cutouts resembling iPhones.{{cite news |author1=Foreman |first=William |last2=Wu |first2=Debby |last3=Lee |first3=Min |last4=Liang |first4=Zhao |date=26 May 2010 |title=Tech: Apple Supplier Foxconn Suffers 10th Death This Year, Asks Workers To Sign Anti-Suicide Pledge |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/25/foxconn-suffers-10th-deat_n_588524.html |access-date=20 December 2014 |work=HuffPost}}
The family of Ma Xianqian, one of the dead workers, protested outside the Foxconn factory. On 28 May 2010, demonstrators protested outside Hon Hai's Taipei headquarters laying flowers for those who had died at the Foxconn plant. Taiwanese unions and labor activists were also present at the Taipei protest and displayed banners that displayed Chinese text that translates into English as: "For wealth and power—physical and mental health spent, hopes lost" and "For profit of the brand—youth spent, dreams shattered".
On 8 June 2010, the date of Foxconn's Annual General Meeting, student protesters from SACOM, Hong Kong labor unions and rights groups demonstrated outside a Hong Kong Apple store.
A small group of young organizers picketed at an Apple store in San Francisco on 17 June 2010. The protesters carried placards showing the names and ages of the dead workers.{{Cite journal |last=Chan |first=Jenny |last2=Pun |first2=Ngai |date=13 September 2010 |title=Suicide as protest for the new generation of Chinese migrant workers : Foxconn, global capital, and the state |url=https://apjjf.org/jenny-chan/3408/article |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |language=en |volume=8 |issue=37 |pages= |issn=1557-4660}}
Analysis
The Economist asserts that although the number of workplace suicides at Foxconn was large in absolute terms, number of people who died by suicide at Foxconn factories was lower than the overall suicide rate of China. Steve Jobs has asserted that it is lower than the rate of suicide for the US.{{cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Claudine |date=2 June 2010 |title=Foxconn suicide rate is lower than in the US, says Apple's Steve Jobs |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/steve-jobs/7796546/Foxconn-suicide-rate-is-lower-than-in-the-US-says-Apples-Steve-Jobs.html |access-date=9 September 2012 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}} According to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, China had a high suicide rate with approximately 22.23 deaths per 100,000 people.{{Cite web |date=8 September 2011 |title=China's suicide rate 'among highest in world' |url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i1FL2q8ZO_Z93-mOqOx5eSYQW36Q?docId=CNG.fe11c1b55d60e484a37a458dccdd1b34.8f1&hl=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926142518/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i1FL2q8ZO_Z93-mOqOx5eSYQW36Q?docId=CNG.fe11c1b55d60e484a37a458dccdd1b34.8f1&hl=en |archive-date=26 September 2013 |website=Google News |agency=Agence France-Presse}} In 2010, the company's employee count was a reported 930,000 people.{{cite news |last=Liang-chih |first=Chang |last2=Huang |first2=Frances |date=19 August 2010 |title=Foxcon Plans To Increase China Workforce to 1.3 Million |url=http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?ID=201008190012&Type=aECO |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725173318/http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?ID=201008190012&Type=aECO |archive-date=25 July 2011 |access-date=2010-08-19 |publisher=Focus Taiwan News Channel}}
{{See also|Foxconn and unions|Apple worker organizations}}
Labor activists stated the suicides supported their assertion that numerous labor abuses take place at Foxconn. Economic conditions external to the company also might have been influential; during the same year, several major strike actions at other high-profile manufacturers occurred in China, and the Lewis turning-point is a macro-economic factor that might provide context for the events. If the above factors are true, it shows that there could be inconsistency between Foxconn's labor conditions and any progress in China's economy.For other 2010 strikes, see {{Cite news |last=Jing |first=Li |last2=Yinan |first2=Hu |date=3 June 2010 |title=Strikes signal end to cheap labor |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-06/03/content_9926008.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606223212/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-06/03/content_9926008.htm |archive-date=6 June 2010 |access-date=25 June 2010 |work=China Daily}}For China's Lewisian turning-point, see {{Cite news |date=10 June 2010 |title=Socialist workers: Is China's labour market at a turning-point? |url=https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2010/06/10/socialist-workers |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230312002813/https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2010/06/10/socialist-workers |archive-date=12 March 2023 |work=The Economist}}
However, one expert claimed that employees were treated comparatively well at Foxconn. Boy Lüthje, of Germany's Institute of Social Research, told The Economist that the company pays a minimum monthly wage of 900 yuan (US$130) as well as providing free recreational facilities, food, and lodging for employees at some of its factory complexes.{{cite web |date=26 May 2010 |title=Don't Mean To Be Rude, But Suicide Rate at Apple's iPad-Maker Foxconn Is Lower Than All 50 U.S. States |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-and-dell-investigating-the-foxconn-working-conditions-2010-5 |access-date=5 April 2019 |website=Business Insider}} Overtime, however, may be routinely demanded.{{Cite news |last=Condliffe |first=Jamie |date=2018-06-11 |title=Foxconn Is Under Scrutiny for Worker Conditions. It's Not the First Time. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/business/dealbook/foxconn-worker-conditions.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220511090027/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/business/dealbook/foxconn-worker-conditions.html |archive-date=11 May 2022 |access-date=2019-11-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Legacy
The Foxconn suicides have become the basis of works including the song Chairman Gou by James Supercave. The song mentions two persons involved in the incident, Chairman Terry Gou and Lu Xin. The content of the song is specifically referencing the suicide of 24 year old Chinese rural migrant worker Lu Xin, who committed suicide at the Shenzhen factory on 6 May 2010, certified dead onsite. By the end of May, CEO Terry Gou brought in psychiatrists to offer advice to depressed workers over phone and installed "safety nets" to deter employees from jumping off a building.{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Jenny |date=2020-03-30 |title=Chairman Gou |url=https://dyingforaniphone.com/2020/03/30/chairman-gou/ |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=Dying for an iPhone |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |title=James Supercave – Chairman Gou Lyrics |url=https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107859530078/ |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=SongMeanings |language=en}} This is reflected in the lines "Hire a hundred telephones/To talk the kids out of meaninglessness" and "Pay the right man to build a suicide net".{{Cite web |title=James Supercave - Chairman Gou Lyrics |url=https://genius.com/James-supercave-chairman-gou-lyrics |website=Genius}}
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101018032011/http://sacom.hk/archives/740 Sacom.hk Workers as Machines: Military Management in Foxconn.] Report from Hong Kong-based non-profit Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM)
- [http://www.vimeo.com/17558439 Deconstructing Foxconn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731202856/http://www.vimeo.com/17558439 |date=31 July 2020 }} video from Chinese University of Hong Kong professor Jack Qiu
- [https://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/ff_joelinchina/all/ 1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who's to Blame?] March 2011 cover story of Wired magazine
{{Foxconn}}
{{21st century unrest in the People's Republic of China}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foxconn Suicides}}
Category:Labor relations in China
Category:Suicides in the People's Republic of China
Category:Lists of Chinese people
Category:Lists of deaths in 2011
Category:Lists of deaths in 2010
Category:Lists of deaths in 2012