Yesterdays new iPhone announcement was a bitter sweet moment for myself. Yes, it's the most amazing device every created. Yes, it's founder Steve Jobs labeled it "his new baby". Yes, it has more features then a fully equipped Aston Martin...Yes! We know...we know.
What we don't know is the amount of hard work and labor that goes into each and every phone that touches our gluttonous hands. Foxconn, the Chinese factory that assembles and manages each iPhone, has had an astounding number of suicides this year. The company has given it's official political statement about the deaths. Out of respect for each life lost, I won't even restate such garbage. Basically, they (Foxconn) claimed they didn't know why each employee wanted to terminate their own life. Hmmmm...maybe it's the $132 a month they were being given for 18 hour work days. Or could it possibly be that the 400,000 employees (that's not a typo), work like machines -round the clock- attempting to meet insane quotas. Of course your cringing at the thought of how you helped create this atrocity by demanding these devices. Hell, I even typed this memo on an iPhone...
Luckily, amazing things can happen when people are pushed too far, sometimes they break...other times they do the breaking. In fact, something amazing is happening in China right now...workers are beginning to revolt! Last month, nearly 2,000 Chinese workers went on strike at a Honda factory in southern China. The strike then became a movement, spreading across the mainland, halting production at every single Honda factory in China. Also, this past May 28th, another 1,000 workers refused to work due to low wages. This time it was Hyundai...this time it was in Beijing. Even the Chinese government, not known for it's hospitality, has joined the fray by mandating laws to protect those overworked and underpaid. A revolution is brewing, and I can't escape the joy that comes along with it.
Those Honda workers I talked about ..offered a 24% raise to return to work.
Those Hyundai workers I just spoke of...given a 15% raise along with a conditional extra 10% raise due in July.
Lastly, that small city known as Foxconn that I opened with...50% pay increase within three months.
With a big smile and a even bigger sigh of relief, I say congrats to those affected. Now I can sleep well knowing that things are and will get better...
Sent from my iPhone... :)
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