Foxconn's Other Dirty Secret: the World's Largest "Internship" Program 183
pigrabbitbear writes "In light of a series of reports that have emerged over the years, one of many dark stories of suicide now points at one of the lesser-known but more unsavory aspects of Foxconn's much-criticized labor practices: with the help of schools and government officials, the company runs a massive internship program built not on voluntary education but on 'compelled' factory work for teenage students. According to Ross Perlin, author of Intern Nation."
Keep working hard kids (Score:5, Insightful)
One day you might get paid!
Re:Who cares (Score:5, Insightful)
It's so shiny and Apple claims it really, really cool.
You mean nokia, HTC, moto, sony, samsung, et al aren't Foxconn's customers?
Re:Import tariffs (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Keep working hard kids (Score:4, Insightful)
Plenty of things are made in the USA and Canada these days. Microelectronic gizmos, not so much,
Re:Keep working hard kids (Score:5, Insightful)
It's better than starving on a farm. It's really quite sad. Too bad NOTHING is made in the USA / Canada anymore.
Right. Then they could all starve on farms.
One more for not mfg'ing in the Third World. (Score:5, Insightful)
"In light of a series of reports that have emerged over the years, one of many dark stories of suicide now points at one of the lesser-known but more unsavory aspects of Foxconn's much-criticized labor practices: with the help of schools and government officials, the company runs a massive internship program built not on voluntary education but on 'compelled' factory work for teenage students. According to Ross Perlin, author of Intern Nation
Which is also called slavery.
This is yet another reason why we shouldnt be manufacturing in hellholes that will bend over backwards for business, but snap the backs of the people that work for them (should they ask for more than the company approved allotment of freedom).
Perhaps US & EU manufacturing isn't a bad idea after all.
Re:oh the humanity! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Who cares (Score:4, Insightful)
Makes sense. Apple makes a HUGE margin on their devices and has $80B+ in the bank. They could certainly afford to build them right here in America, and still make a nice profit, but they choose not to.
Re:oh the humanity! (Score:3, Insightful)
* "Liu had traveled hundreds of miles for a chance to get hands-on experience working for China’s leading electronics maker."
* "Liu’s internship — which he landed through a labor placement firm in the nearby city of Guangzhou — would have included housing, food, and a small stipend estimated to be about half the salary of a typical factory worker"
if you actually read the text, the worst you can say is that many Chinese schools require internships in order to graduate. This is probably on par with US vocational schools. So let's hold off on the "zOMG won't somebody think of the childrenz!"
Re:One more for not mfg'ing in the Third World. (Score:2, Insightful)
Why do you hate capitalism so much?
Re:oh the humanity! (Score:4, Insightful)
... but it isn't apple to blame
Correct. Their shareholders deserve the blame. Apple's just a corporation. Own Apple stock? You're a slaver. Buy Apple products? You enrich slave owners. FOAD.
Re:Keep working hard kids (Score:5, Insightful)
That's about it.
Re:oh the humanity! (Score:5, Insightful)
but it isn't apple to blame
I disagree. Apple is contracting with Foxconn to churn out millions of iDevices. Regardless of what other Silicon Valley companies are doing, Apple is the one that is dealing with FoxConn. If they think that the workers deserve better treatment, they have it in their power to see that their demands are met; if they aren't, then they can contract with someone who will. "I'm just following the status quo," is a poor defense.
I work for a company that deals with a lot of contractors. If a contractor isn't living up to our expectations (usually safety related), we find a new company to do that work. If they're not living up to our standards, they don't come on our site. Our safety numbers reflect this. (I think our bottom line benefits, too, but those numbers are a little trickier to pin down.)
I think that a company's handling of contractors reflects their values. Apple (and I guess the rest of Silicon Valley) values money more than good working conditions.
Re:Will US involvement in China make China better? (Score:4, Insightful)
Uh you did know that china had been communist for 41 years prior to tianamen square? Right?
The chinese people haven't given up and the china of 2012 is better than the china of 1989. There is more civil society
in china now than there was 20 years ago. China still has a long way to go but things have changed. Do you even think
20 years ago we would have even heard about what was going on in these factories???
Cutting off china won't make china free, it will just make it isolated like we did with North Korea and Cuba.
Embargoing Cuba has worked out great...oh wait Fidel Castro is still in power.
Blame the government, not Foxconn (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:oh the humanity! (Score:5, Insightful)
You totally miss the educational/motivational part of such internships !
Once the students have worked during 3 months in these factories, they'll learn the following values:
1) if you fail your studies, that's where you'll work until the end of your life
2) if you succeed in your studies, you'll probably want to change the future working conditions in China.
3) if you excel in your studies, you'll be the next bosses, and these are good lessons on how to exploit people.
These are valuable work and life skills !