The Suicide Nets at Foxconn

Although pointy-headed liberals, progressives, and actual leftists constantly complain about our supposedly cold-hearted corporate masters, one of Apple Computer’s benevolent suppliers has set a new standard for worker safety by installing suicide nets around its factories, and even around the apartment blocks where many of its workers dwell, after a wave of worker-suicides last year.

So far in the last four and a half months seven workers from the plant have committed suicide, and at least 9 have attempted suicide.  According to reporter Liu Zhi Yi who infiltrated the plant, the likely reason why was that they felt taking their own life was the only option to escape the hellish working conditions of the plant.

According to Liu, the plant makes employees work around the clock, only pausing briefly to eat or sleep.  Most of the time the employees are standing, seldom able to sit down and rest their weary legs.  This is perfectly legal, as employees are required to sign a special overtime document that override Chinese workplace laws and essentially allows the employer to demand whatever hours they want from you, without additional compensation.

Foxconn pays the workers far too little for them to hope to buy one of the Apple products they assemble.  It pays them only 900 Chinese Yuan a month -about $130 USD.

But in spite of Foxconn’s anti-suicide apparatus, a few workers still manage to escape into oblivion.

A 22-year old female worker at Foxconn’s Kunshan factory committed suicide early yesterday morning. She only joined Foxconn at the end of March, where she worked packaging plastics.

Miss Liu was apparently saved by the safety nets rigged up several months ago in reaction to the spate of suicide-jumpers at Foxconn’s other factory in Shenzhen, however she later died from her injuries.

Welcome to your future! And don’t try to die on the job!