iPhone manufacturer Foxconn implicated in further employee abuse

Foxconn is the Hong Kong subsidiary of the Taiwanese manufacturer, Hon Hai, and can crank out up to 130,000 iPhones per day. A leaked internal report from Foxconn indicates that up to 50% of all Foxconn employees are abused either physically, verbally, or financially. This is a further stain on Foxconn's reputation after their recent employee suicides.

The report states that "Foxconn's labor system is characterized with highly-intensified workload, low payment, violent training, all at the cost of the workers' dignity." Employees, for example, were cheated out of their reported 30% raises from June, receiving no higher than 9.1% raises, and had their bonuses and subsidies taken away.

Interns are also subject to abuse, working over the time of their shifts, and because they work without contracts, neither the government nor the company will compensate them for workplace injuries. In many cases, these interns make up half of a given factory's workforce.

According to the study, 16.4% of Foxconn employees have been victims of physical violence from the management. Perhaps more interestingly, different departments are forbidden from communicating with one another. Mobile phones and metal objects are also not allowed within the factories.

Foxconn is still recovering from the bad press of anemployee suicide in mid-2009. The 25 year-old employee came up short of the 16 iPhone prototypes in his care, and was detained and beaten while they looked for the missing prototype. The employee then jumped to his death, and the prototype was never found.

As the accusations are fairly serious, we should remember that this report is still unconfirmed. Whether or not the findings are accurate, Apple will have to deal with the negative press regarding their choice of manufacturers.

source: Global Times via IntoMobile