Tag Archives: labor practices

Foxconn Labor Strategy Emblematic of China’s Growing Influence

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A pair of University of Padua researchers have written a really interesting comparison of Foxconn’s management practices in Turkey and the Czech Republic versus those in China.

Among the findings:

  • Foxconn relies heavily on a temporary work staff in the CR, where 40% of its 9,000 workers are temporary, but all its 350 staff in Turkey are direct.
  • In both countries, Foxconn’s strategy is to drive down labor costs.
  • Foxconn leans heavily on the respective countries for financial support in the way of tax rebates, worker hiring rebates, tax holidays and other incentives.
  • Foxconn actively seeks to minimize the influence of worker unions.

The researchers say the emergence of China is having a direct impact on labor practices elsewhere, and global production is inseparable from “social reproduction.” It’s worth a read.

How Much Would You Pay?

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Would you be willing to pay for more “fair-trade” electronics?

The host of This American Life, a public radio show based in Chicago, revives that debate in a recent segment on Mike Daisey —  the author of The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs — and his visit to Shenzhen (so polluted, it looks like “Bladerunner threw up on itself”).

The issue over China’s labor practices, the show finds, boils down to that question.