Apple supplier halts China factory after violence

[notorious]

http://news.yahoo.com/apple-supplier...055718608.html


Apple supplier halts China factory after violence

By JOE McDONALD | Associated Press – 2 hrs 31 mins ago



BEIJING (AP) — The company that makes Apple's iPhones suspended production at a factory in China on Monday after a brawl by as many as 2,000 employees at a dormitory injured 40 people.

The fight, the cause of which is under investigation, erupted Sunday night at a privately managed dormitory near a Foxconn Technology Group factory in the northern city of Taiyuan, the company and Chinese police said. A police statement reported by the official Xinhua News Agency said 5,000 officers were dispatched to the scene.

The Taiwanese-owned company declined to say whether the factory is involved in iPhone production. It said the facility, which employs 79,000 people, will suspend work Monday and reopen Tuesday.

Foxconn makes iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc. and also assembles products for Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. It is one of China's biggest employers, with some 1.2 million workers in factories in Taiyuan, the southern city of Shenzhen, in Chengdu in the west and in Zhengzhou in central China.

The unrest happens at a critical time for Apple. The fight started days after the launch of the latest iPhone model in the U.S. and eight other countries. The phone quickly sold out in most stores in the U.S. and Apple has a three to four-week backlog of online orders as it ramps up production to meet demand.

On Monday, Apple said it sold 5 million units of the new iPhone 5 in the first three days, less than analysts had expected. Its stock fell 1.4 percent to $690.50 in midday trading.

The fight in Taiyuan started at 11 p.m. on Sunday, "drawing a large crowd of spectators and triggering chaos," a police spokesman was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Order was restored after about four hours and several people were arrested, said the company, a unit of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. It said 40 people were taken to hospitals for treatment.

The violence did not appear to be work-related, the company and police said. Comments posted on Chinese Internet bulletin boards said it might have erupted after a security guard hit an employee.

Photos posted on microblog service Sina Weibo showed broken windows, a burned vehicle and police with riot helmets, shields and clubs.

Phone calls to police headquarters and the Taiyuan city hall were not answered. People reached by phone at restaurants and other businesses in the area said they had no details about the clash.

In the past year, Foxconn has faced scrutiny over workers' complaints about wages and working hours. The company raised minimum pay and promised in March to limit hours after an auditor hired by Apple found Foxconn employees were regularly required to work more than 60 hours a week.

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[Iconic]

How is this funny.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Iconic

How is this funny.

A 2000 person brawl isn't funny?


Damn.

[L.A. Chieffan]

They were pissed about the maps update too

[Iconic]

Originally Posted by notorious

A 2000 person brawl isn't funny?


Damn.

They are worked to death day and night. It's more distressing then comical.

[Bump]

they probably got tired of being treated like slaves so a few people can make billions of dollars.

[Sassy Squatch]

GLORIOUS MASTER IPOD PRODUCTION STOPPED!!!!

[Ace Gunner]

Originally Posted by notorious

A 2000 person brawl isn't funny?


Damn.

you watch too much tv.

[Ace Gunner]

Originally Posted by Bump

they probably got tired of being treated like slaves so a few people can make billions of dollars.

Bet they were promised a raise if they "meet schedule" and that raise did not materialize.

[KCUnited]

Their new procedures may not connect with some employees.

[Bump]

Originally Posted by Lou_Zare

Bet they were promised a raise if they "meet schedule" and that raise did not materialize.

raise? lol no. What do they make 5 cents per hour? From what I understand they are also forced to work 20 hour days, every day, 365 days a year or they get killed if they don't. I don't understand how they haven't revolted yet.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by Bump

raise? lol no. What do they make 5 cents per hour? From what I understand they are also forced to work 20 hour days, every day, 365 days a year or they get killed if they don't. I don't understand how they haven't revolted yet.

But the new screen...have you seen it?!?

[htismaqe]

Not sure how long Apple has been using Foxconn but they've had issues FOR YEARS.

[Fish]

It's pretty crazy how much Apple gets to some people around here...

[Fish]

This story is pretty sad really. Foxconn works these poor people to death. Literally. The dormitory they're talking about in the article here:

The fight, the cause of which is under investigation, erupted Sunday night at a privately managed dormitory near a Foxconn Technology Group factory in the northern city of Taiyuan, the company and Chinese police said.

They have private dormitories right next to the factory, so the workers don't go home after their shifts. They sleep in these dorms, and go back to work as soon as they get up. They literally spend weeks at a time at work. It's such a brutal and depressing existence, that they were required to put up suicide safety nets around the factory because so many people were jumping off.



My dad was sent down to one of these factories a while back, and was just appalled at the working conditions. They had removed all the safety features from all the machines, so they could make bunk beds and such out of them so the workers could spend more time at the factory. Like hand rails on stairs, and safety bars between workers and machines. So most of the equipment doesn't have any safety features left. They work the workers like slaves.

Foxconn provides tech for far more companies than Apple, by the way.