A Night at the Foxconn Factory

TexUs said:
Exactly.

That, with sucky pay... I don't understand the uproar about these workers. Like you said about your GF... people work here, too. Not every company has vacation.

Many people commute, too. An hour each way is 10 extra hours just for traveling. Whereas many of these Foxconn workers actually live there.

I'd love to keep 40% of my money.
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She is in China, and so am I. Believe me, she has 'sucky' pay by our standards, especially for the number of hours worked. The alternatives are rarely better though. Landing any decent job in China is no easy feat, to say you have a lot of competition is one hell of an understatement.
 
Matrices said:
American workers have increased their productivity many times over the last four decades, yet their real wages are stagnant while the net wealth of executives have increased about fifty fold in the same period. So you can definitely "do the work and stay poor" in capitalism; the wealth is generated, but it simply flows (more like it is sucked) upwards.
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Kind of hard to claim the Americans are the "working poor". The working poor are the hundreds of millions of people who built China into a manufacturing Juggernaut thought hard labour in the late 20st century, and they, and their children, are enjoying the same rapid increase in standard of living that the US in the decades after WW2.

The American middle class is right near the top of the global working class. The further above the rest of the world you are, the harder it is to gain more. The reality is that the US pushed it's standard of living too high too fast and it created enormous downward pressure and undercutting by foreign manufacturers. Now instead of the rest of the world standing still looking at America's growth, it's their turn to grow and America's turn to watch.
 
pgaster said:
This is not a typical story of a worker in China. I don't think you guys realize this. I worked for a company that had a factory in China and was there 3 times for at least 2 weeks each time so I am pretty familiar with what goes on there. I worked at the company for a bit over 10 years before getting laid off.

Low level workers typically live at the factory, not an outside apartment. With the company I worked at there were 6 people per factory dorm room. The dorm rooms did not have a bathroom, there was a community bathroom that several rooms had to share.

These low level workers did not make enough money to go home to see their families except for maybe during Chinese New Year. I knew some that did not even go home then because of the expense.

Also keep in mind most factories have walls, gates, and guards for security. They almost feel like prisons. Workers where I was at had badges and had to swipe them at a reader when then left the factory and when they came back. Uniforms were worn by the workers at almost all times, even when they were outside the factory. If you aren't getting it, it's a depressing situation for me to try to paint so you can all understand. I could not imagine having that sort of life.
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Awww, so sad. Were you aware though that your sob story post is equally descriptive of the typical American university? Dorm rooms, community bathrooms, access cards, security guards...THE HORROR.
 
anonmoniker said:
Awww, so sad. Were you aware though that your sob story post is equally descriptive of the typical American university? Dorm rooms, community bathrooms, access cards, security guards...THE HORROR.
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LOL, exactly...

Really this is just sensationalized news. I've been saying that from the start.

If you want third world, go to Niger, Africa, one of the poorest countries there is (In the UN's top list), where you're lucky to eat two meals a week.

But, that doesn't sound as good because there's no "evil corporate entity" to paint the blame to.
 
I used to often work two 16 hour days and two 8 hour days a week while in college, these working conditions at Foxconn aren't *that* bad.
 
$44/mo for rent plus $7 for water/power.......that almost makes me wanna work there lol

although if i had to sit on a stool, it would definitely have to be padded or something heh
 
Man, that is nothing compared to factory work here in America!

I used to work for Kellogg's Company making delicious red berries cereal and other treats.

My longest continious shift = 24 straight hrs of work. I would pull in 80 hr weeks easily doing crappy jobs like putting the toys in each cereal box as it comes down the line or cleaning up crap. At Kelloggs you get 1 day off per month!

Thats not even tough work compared to the poor fellows that work in meat packing plants, my girlfriend's uncle has worked 40 straight hrs before!

Yeah, if you think that this dudes story is "tough work" you need to get a real job and see what working for your dollar is really like
 
Note: ( i got paid $24/hr at kelloggs, plus time and a half for anything over 8 hrs in a 24 hr period, plus doubletime for sundays)

Rich as hell working there, but no time to spend it :(
 
anonmoniker said:
How did you get rich working for $24/hr?
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Considering his paychecks were $2280 a week, that's pretty respectable.

Buddy of mine is doing the same thing right now... Pulling 80 hours a week, lots of money but has no time to enjoy it.
 
I'd take $2280/week, given I can keep my current benefits anyway, LOL (Benefits make my smallerish salary worth it).
 
Seems typical, 12 hrs days note "OVERTIME" and also lives with his girlfriend in their apartment clearly you people are not reading the story saying he lives in a factory dorm room and doing 12 hrs shifts. It's over time he has chosen to do this and has since living outside of the work place.

Although it's $235 that is including over time. Still i knew this Taiwanese las and she did 16 hour days every day for two months straight intill BT found out as they would be fined for breaching health and safety and was no longer allowed to do any more over time. When i worked there i did 14 hour days 6 days a week for a number of months.

Fact this stiuation can happen anywhere in the world and not just limited to China.
 
anonmoniker said:
How did you get rich working for $24/hr?
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12 hour shifts can add up due to "incentives" added on. I make $22 an hour and with time and a half for everything over 8 hours plus 15% for working nights and a couple other things I make $70K a year with minimal overtime. Thats working 3 day then 4 day work weeks.
 
Nemesis999 said:
You don't get something from nothing. Someone has to do the work sooner or later, or you just stay poor. I guess they finally figured that out.
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You are literally justifying the abuse of workers and using mitigation and euphemistic language to rationalize it. The sad part is, I don't think you even realize it given your posting history.

staticlag said:
Man, that is nothing compared to factory work here in America!

I used to work for Kellogg's Company making delicious red berries cereal and other treats.

My longest continious shift = 24 straight hrs of work. I would pull in 80 hr weeks easily doing crappy jobs like putting the toys in each cereal box as it comes down the line or cleaning up crap. At Kelloggs you get 1 day off per month!

Thats not even tough work compared to the poor fellows that work in meat packing plants, my girlfriend's uncle has worked 40 straight hrs before!

Yeah, if you think that this dudes story is "tough work" you need to get a real job and see what working for your dollar is really like
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You literally just implied the Kelloggs requires all of its employees to work 29 days a month and said that a girlfriend's uncle's anecdote oks everything wrong with chinese labor abuses.

You are so detached from reality that is is no mystery as to why your supervisors made you work unethical, and possibly illegal, amounts of overtime.
 
And for my story about isolated overtime, I worked 101 hours at an airport one week! Oh, and I chose to work at sprint for many 65+ hour weeks and even one 80 hour week because the pay was killer good! China is A-ok!
 
anonmoniker said:
Awww, so sad. Were you aware though that your sob story post is equally descriptive of the typical American university? Dorm rooms, community bathrooms, access cards, security guards...THE HORROR.
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Your comparison sucks. A chinese toilet is a hole in the floor, not university bathrooms cleaned by someone else, chinese don't have washing machines that I saw, I believe they washed their clothes by hand in a sink or bucket, chinese at factories have crappy food compared to university food, and the big kicker is that university life lasts for 4 years. Then you move on and get a decent paying job, at least theoretically. The point is that there is hope for a better life after being at a university. What hope do people have at a chinese factory? What better life awaits them after 4 years of that kind of work?
 
NKDietrich said:
Damn, even many well-paid Americans can't save 40%. And I wish my water and power were $7. Sounds like things aren't quite as bad, financially speaking, as people make them out to be. $235 goes a long way in China. People look at their wages and compare them to American cost of living, which isn't really a logical comparison.

China would still suck ass to live in, but mostly for the fact of the Great Firewall.
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That's the thing I don't get when people look at this and go "oh noes! the poor chinese workers!"

They make more than enough to afford cost-of-living expenses and still have enough to save most of their earnings. Making $235 a month over there has a lot more value when you can save 40% of that. After taxes, I'll bet people here making $80k a year or more can barely do that.
 
Emission said:
That's the thing I don't get when people look at this and go "oh noes! the poor chinese workers!"

They make more than enough to afford cost-of-living expenses and still have enough to save most of their earnings. Making $235 a month over there has a lot more value when you can save 40% of that. After taxes, I'll bet people here making $80k a year or more can barely do that.
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Wages are the smallest part of it.

It is sweatshop conditions, it is living in the factory, in conditions that are worse than an American jail.
 
Emission said:
That's the thing I don't get when people look at this and go "oh noes! the poor chinese workers!"

They make more than enough to afford cost-of-living expenses and still have enough to save most of their earnings. Making $235 a month over there has a lot more value when you can save 40% of that. After taxes, I'll bet people here making $80k a year or more can barely do that.
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You are likely correct but it has more to do with culture than money. Chinese mostly live below their means and sock away as much as they can, the same can not be said for many Americans and maybe Europeans. Most Americans carry debt and live at or above their income level. Do not think however that the Chinese sacrifice nothing to squirrel away cash, they sacrifice plenty...especially those working shit ass jobs like factory work. Americans can do the same if they chose to do so but the vast majority are not keen on sacrificing much.

I promise you that most people would shit a brick if asked to live in the type of housing that guy is paying so little for. The dorms are worse.

To the other guy who talked about the dorms...yes, they wash clothes by hand. It is not fun but it is the norm here. I bought a washing machine for my apartment and my girlfriend refuses to use it. She says hand washing gets clothes cleaner, she may be right but you'll still never catch me doing it. I have grown to accustomed to tossing stuff into a washer and calling it a day *shrug*
 
spinelli said:
You are likely correct but it has more to do with culture than money. Chinese mostly live below their means and sock away as much as they can, the same can not be said for many Americans and maybe Europeans. Most Americans carry debt and live at or above their income level. Do not think however that the Chinese sacrifice nothing to squirrel away cash, they sacrifice plenty...especially those working shit ass jobs like factory work. Americans can do the same if they chose to do so but the vast majority are not keen on sacrificing much.

I promise you that most people would shit a brick if asked to live in the type of housing that guy is paying so little for. The dorms are worse.

To the other guy who talked about the dorms...yes, they wash clothes by hand. It is not fun but it is the norm here. I bought a washing machine for my apartment and my girlfriend refuses to use it. She says hand washing gets clothes cleaner, she may be right but you'll still never catch me doing it. I have grown to accustomed to tossing stuff into a washer and calling it a day *shrug*
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Oh there's definitely a difference in the standard of living, that can be said without question. I'm sure that what they're paying for, however cheap, is still shit conditions.

Although it's interesting to note that having a decent quality of living over there doesn't cost vastly more than what these people are paying. A comfortable/comparable level of living can be had for a fraction of what we pay for it in most places in this country, but to be fair, it's not as simple as I'm making it out to be. There are differences in the kind of job availability and culture between the US and China that skews the money comparison.

If you can find a decent job over there, getting by is not that difficult (as long as you're not working 24/7, of course).
 
spinelli said:
You are likely correct but it has more to do with culture than money. Chinese mostly live below their means and sock away as much as they can, the same can not be said for many Americans and maybe Europeans. Most Americans carry debt and live at or above their income level. Do not think however that the Chinese sacrifice nothing to squirrel away cash, they sacrifice plenty...especially those working shit ass jobs like factory work. Americans can do the same if they chose to do so but the vast majority are not keen on sacrificing much.
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Why should Americans save when someone will just bail us out? Why should we save when there's no consequence for poor financial planning? Why should we save when we can life off social assistance and still buy 24" dubs and LCD TV's?
 
pgaster said:
Your comparison sucks. A chinese toilet is a hole in the floor,
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Dude, that's standard for the majority populace of some countries. Including India.

Just because YOUR standard acceptable living is different than THEIR standard acceptable living doesn't make it wrong. If anything, it proves how culturally insensitive you are.

Some cultures eat on the floor, which many here in America would consider nasty or unacceptable. There's culture differences. Saying their culture is wrong is just being a jack ass.


spinelli said:
You are likely correct but it has more to do with culture than money. Chinese mostly live below their means and sock away as much as they can, the same can not be said for many Americans and maybe Europeans. Most Americans carry debt and live at or above their income level.
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And for this very reason is why China, financially, is in a much better stance than the USA. I don't think anyone here would agree that the US is looking at a massive financial crisis in the future, and it's BECAUSE of that. And I also think we all know who would rise up as the next global power, China. Wonder why??????????
We, in the US, will return to those standards of living when that happens.

It's almost like some here are encouraging the Chinese to spend more money than they need to spend and encourage them to go into debt to "live the dream"... Fact of the matter is some cultures are not as stupid as ours is, and they don't live like that.
 
TexUs said:
Dude, that's standard for the majority populace of some countries. Including India.

Just because YOUR standard acceptable living is different than THEIR standard acceptable living doesn't make it wrong. If anything, it proves how culturally insensitive you are.
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I was just in China on business, and in a nice public restroom two of the stalls had the squatters, one had a sitter. Like Tex says, it's a cultural thing. A squatter is considered more hygenic, as you're not putting your skin on a surface that someone else's skin may have touched.
 
Rucker61 said:
I was just in China on business, and in a nice public restroom two of the stalls had the squatters, one had a sitter. Like Tex says, it's a cultural thing. A squatter is considered more hygenic, as you're not putting your skin on a surface that someone else's skin may have touched.
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Not only is the squatter more hygienic, it is better for your body. Poop has to make an elbow bend to exit when you are seated on a western style throne, when squatting your waste has a straight shot to freedom. Some studies I do not feel like looking for actually attribute a lower risk of ass cancer and some heart troubles to using a squatter. Personally I am not convinced and I can not fully squat anyway so *shrug*

What always makes me laugh is when you do find a western style toilet, you'll often find footprints on the seat from the locals squatting on them.

To TexUS:
Chinese and foreign businesses are encouraging the Chinese people to spend more money. 5 years ago it was almost unheard of for anyone to buy a car through a loan, that has changed but it is still not well seen in most cities. There is no shortage of shopping malls full of name brand crap in major cities. Propaganda like 'Shopping Brings Happiness' can be seen in most of these overpriced places. I live within walking distance of an Adidas store, a Nike store, McDonalds, KFC, Carrefour, Baskin Robbins, Kappa, and a whole shitload of others I forgot about plus Chinese and Asain brand stores.
 
NahBrah said:
You literally just implied the Kelloggs requires all of its employees to work 29 days a month and said that a girlfriend's uncle's anecdote oks everything wrong with chinese labor abuses.

You are so detached from reality that is is no mystery as to why your supervisors made you work unethical, and possibly illegal, amounts of overtime.
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Yup, part of your employment contract is that you have to cover your shift on weekends meaning that unless no work is required or you can find a replacement you are obligated to work 7 days a week (with the exception of cleanup day where they stop all the machines and completely sanitize the entire factory top to bottom).

Also part of the contract is you agree to mandatory "drafts" where they can force you to either come in 4 hrs early or stay 4 hrs later than your shift.

Its tough freaking work but as employees we were very well compensated, awesome healthcare, awesome retirement, awesome wages.

You just had to work all the freaking time.
 
I stopped working there when I fell one cleanup day on some really soapy water and dislocated my shoulder.

Kellogg's didn't hassle me at all, they sent me home on paid leave, paid for my surgery and gave me a $10K "get well soon" check.

This was when I was 23 yrs old, had been working there for 4 yrs.
 
Monkey God said:
Why should Americans save when someone will just bail us out? Why should we save when there's no consequence for poor financial planning? Why should we save when we can life off social assistance and still buy 24" dubs and LCD TV's?
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Lol the fantastical wellfare queens livin' the good life myth. As everyone knows, every person in America got bailed out and no one is pissed that only businesses got all the assistance.
 
staticlag said:
I stopped working there when I fell one cleanup day on some really soapy water and dislocated my shoulder.

Kellogg's didn't hassle me at all, they sent me home on paid leave, paid for my surgery and gave me a $10K "get well soon" check.

This was when I was 23 yrs old, had been working there for 4 yrs.
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All I have to say is.... daaaaaamn. I wouldn't mind a $10K get well soon check.
 
Stop digging up these old threads, people... sheesh, let it die.
 
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