Nickname: Hsiaoshuang

Review: Those people defending China's labor practices certainly have not lived in China, work in Shanxi brick kilns, and drink water from toxic lakes. Ethnic Chinese journalists who have criticized China are seldom heard again if they made the mistake of stepping into the country, since the government treats all ethnic Chinese, even those who are US citizens, as its subjects, i.e. subject to long imprisonment, torture, and, if all else fails, a 60-cent bullet at the back of the neck.

Date reviewed: Jul 11, 2007 8:21 AM

Nickname: been there saw it

Review: I have been there and have seen the conditions of the factories. Which were hot by my standards but did have A.C. Millions of dollars of equipment must be cooled to work properly. With so many employees in China it must be run military style to control movement. As for the Dorms they supply for their employees, 4 people to a room, community bathrooms and NO A.C. I would also guess over 80% of the workforce are 13 to 25 year old girls. There is no way to verify how old these girls are. For many this is the only way to keep from being homeless. Also executives from Apple, Nokia, and Sony are fully aware of how Hon Hai (Foxconn) is operating; they audit the factories and have on site employees. I'll post more in the near future

Date reviewed: Jul 1, 2007 4:31 PM

Nickname: Mickster

Review: Large alarms should be going off in our heads when Apple and their suppliers bragadociously write into their code of ethics wording to the effect of, "hey we don't even have to beat up/rape/torture our own employees to get them to work harder. So buy our stock!" Gheesh, hope these executives fall asleep happy at night while they pay a burdened labor rate of less than a buck an hour to these marginalized people.

Date reviewed: Aug 21, 2006 5:01 PM

Nickname: japanexpert

Review: The five-day work week doesn't apply to farmers. Many Chinese would rather work than have time off. If you worked seven, 8-9 hour days you would be working a 60-hour week. They are not working five 12-hour days. Hiring more means providing more bunks, space. More training costs. Employees want to work. If you give minimum wage earners a choice between working one job seven days or working two jobs because they can only work 40 hours by law, which would they choose?

Date reviewed: Aug 21, 2006 8:09 AM

Nickname: Dorian

Review: I can't figure out why these people are working 60 hour weeks? What the hell is the big deal of hiring more labor? It's not like China is low on a labor pool.... China is the most populated place on this planet and at the rate they pay this people, you would think that its a no brainer to simply hire more people!

Date reviewed: Aug 20, 2006 6:13 PM

Nickname: Thomcarl

Review: Apple only contracts with Foxconn, they don't own them. Blaming Apple or any other company that contracts with Foxconn is total stupidity, but that appears to be the norm for flash and trash journalist. The labor policies of China are just that, China's policies. and beyond the control of OEMs. And journalist wonder why the public holds them is such low regard.

Date reviewed: Aug 20, 2006 5:23 PM

Nickname: BW Reader

Review: You can win competition by sweatshop for a short period, but you will lose the game in the long run. Please treat those workers better, they only occupy 2%-3% of your total cost.

Date reviewed: Aug 20, 2006 9:32 AM

Nickname: violet

Review: Although the policy of keeping confidencial on your business can be universally helpfull, in China the special cultural enviroment and ethic background tells the more cryptic, the greater people's interest is.--e.g.in the entertainment circle those stars mostly like to make up news to draw the public's attention.

Date reviewed: Aug 20, 2006 3:20 AM

Nickname: filecat13

Review: Now that this typhoon in a Chinese teapot is over, perhaps the silly, foolish, and shrill voices of the critics can turn their self-righteous attention somewhere else. People who don't know any thing, journalists included, should keep their mouths shut until they make a reasonable effort to apprehend the truth. It appears that at the end of this story, the only parties acting responsibly are Hon Hai and Apple. The journalists were the most irresponsible of all, failing to do any true journalism and resort hearsay and speculation instead.

Date reviewed: Aug 19, 2006 7:38 PM