I promise not to kill myself: Apple factory workers 'asked to sign pledge'

[The Straight Story]

I promise not to kill myself: Apple factory workers 'asked to sign pledge'

Apple manufacturer Foxconn was today taking extraordinary measures to safeguard its business and workers following a spate of suicides at its sprawling plant in southern China.

Workers have reportedly been told to sign letters promising not to kill themselves and even agree to be institutionalised if they appeared to be in an "abnormal mental or physical state for the protection of myself and others".

Nets were also reportedly being hung around buildings to deter suicidal employees.
Protesters from several workers' rights groups throw paper money in front of paper figures, depicting workers who recently died in apparent suicides, during a traditional Chinese mourning ceremony outside a Foxconn office in Hong Kong.

Protesters from several workers' rights groups throw paper money in front of paper figures, depicting workers who recently died in apparent suicides, during a traditional Chinese mourning ceremony outside a Foxconn office in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/i-promise-not-to-kill-myself-apple-factory-workers-asked-to-sign-pledge-20100526-wddd.html

[BlueJazz]

1. "And if you break this Sacred Pledge, We will ...ah...umm...well..you see...ah..

:)

[stevenleser]

10. Exactly. How stupid.

:eyes:

[Canuckistanian]

2. Meanwhile, the beatings will continue until morale improves....

:eyes:

[Sherman A1]

11. +1000

one of my favorite phrases!

[ohheckyeah]

3. I'm just so sure

the first thing a suicidal person would think of is "no I can't because I signed a pledge at work'.

[On the Road]

5. Actually, It Would Not Suprise Me Too Much

if a Chinese person felt that way. Or it at least had an deterrent effect.

[Ezlivin]

4. There's an App for that!

N/T

[Digit]

6. Good timing!

:rofl:

[U4ikLefty]

8. +1

[Elwood P Dowd]

7. They are not Apple factory workers. Apple doesn't own or run Foxconn.

Apple is only one of dozens of companies that sell products made by Foxconn. You probably own and use Foxconn products and don't even know it. Straight Story? What about the "true story"?

Foxconn manufacturers products for Dell, HP, Sony, Acer, Apple, Intel, Nintendo, Microsoft, Motorola, Cisco and many others, including the Amazon Kindle, Wiis, Playstations, Xbox 360, iPhones, various computer makers' motherboards, and hundreds of models of cell phones and music players.

[REP]

13. Please. It's only Apple stuff that causes the problems; the Xboxes, Kindles, etc cause only joy

Sheesh. I mean "Wii" is such a cute name!

[The Straight Story]

14. I'm sorry, does it say anywhere I am the author of the article? I post, you decide

:rofl:

[Lyric]

17. I'm sure Foxconn has more than one factory.

Is it possible that this PARTICULAR factory, the one with the notorious suicide problem, is manufacturing only Apple products? I find it hard to believe that Apple would consent to have their "revolutionary" products manufactured directly alongside the ones of their competitors, if only to protect their own trade secrets. I also find it hard to believe that Apple's legal department wouldn't have already come out and denounced all these articles calling it "the Apple factory" if there are other brand names being manufactured there just as often. I mean, that would be obvious defamation. And yet, I can't find a word from Apple complaining about the "Apple factory" designation.

I'm Googling to find out, but I haven't found anything one way or another yet.

:shrug:

[Clintonista2]

9. *Awaiting the inevitable stream of apple cultists who will denounce the OP as a paid microsoft plant

[Sherman A1]

12. See Post #7

[Elwood P Dowd]

18. See this!

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/foremski/media-gets-its-facts-wrong-working-at-foxconn-significantly-cuts-suicide-risk/1356

Media gets its facts wrong - working at Foxconn significantly cuts suicide risk

By Tom Foremski | May 27, 2010, 1:50pm PDT

Patrick Mattimore, a fellow at the Institute for Analytic Journalism, recently published the following article on China’s People’s Daily Online, headlined: Media badly misplaying Foxconn suicides.

Taiwanese-owned Foxconn has had seven suicides this year. That sounds like a lot, but the firm has an estimated 800,000 workers, more than 300,000 of them at a single plant in Shenzhen.

Although exact figures are hard to come by, even the most conservative estimate for China’s suicide rate is 14 per 100,000 per year (World Health Organization). In other words, Foxconn’s suicide epidemic is actually lower than China’s national average of suicides.

I checked his figures. World Health Organization suicide figures for China (1999) are 13 males and 14.8 females per 100,000 people.

Elderly (65+ years) suicide rates can be as much as 50% higher than youth (18 to 24 years), which means Foxconn’s suicide rate, with its younger workforce, should be significantly below the national average.

Let’s estimate an average of 10 suicides per 100,000 at Foxconn. Just the Shenzhen Foxconn plant alone, with its 330,000 employees, would be expected to have about 33 suicides this year, or 14 so far.

Foxconn has had just 10 suicides this year, and that’s across its entire workforce.

Working at Foxconn dramatically reduces people’s risk of suicide!

Mr Mattimore is right, the media is misrepresenting the facts. He writes:

The larger problem stems from the fact that most journalists have not been taught to critically examine statistics. They follow the herd which often means that they report numbers without providing readers a context for making sense of those numbers.

Hopefully, the public will wake up to the fact that there is nothing wrong at Foxconn and demand that newspapers act more responsibly and begin supplying some context when they decide to instigate their next corporate suicide watch.

[ChiciB1]

21. You Know... These Days It's HARD To Believe Anything When There Is

wrong doing! Everything seems to have it's very own "cover-up" department, so perhaps the OP isn't totally correct, but then what you just posted may not be totally true either!

We're talking about China after all!

JMHO!

[Elwood P Dowd]

22. The OP just wants to make Apple look bad. None of these DU Apple haters

ever mention the dozens of other companies that get product from Foxconn. For some strange reason they NEVER mention a republican company like Dell. Here you have Democrats like Steve Jobs and Al Gore with Apple getting bashed for using the same suppliers as republican Michael Dell. Just about everything you buy in the consumer electronics industry is now made in Chinese factories like Foxconn, but it seems only Apple gets the blame here on DU.

I wish Apple and all the others would bring production back to the USA, but with our present trade policies it ain't gonna' happen.

[ChiciB1]

23. Hey, I Would Prefer To Own An Apple Computer... Just Can't Afford To Right

now! I think their product is BETTER than my PC, but that doesn't mean there isn't LYING going on!

That's all I'm saying! I DON'T know the TRUTH! FWIW, I see more LIES than TRUTH these days at every turn I make!

[Sherman A1]

27. Gee,

We have had several folks commit suicide that worked at my place of employment (retail grocery) over the years I have been there, one just this last week. Perhaps we should study those statistics as well or we could just blame Apple or as one of the guys worked in the Produce Department perhaps we could blame the apples.

People elect to do themselves in for a variety of reasons, for whom they work may be one of them or perhaps there are marital issues, chemical issues or whatever.

[Seneca]

24. I love that the apologists have Apple avatars

It makes it all feel complete.

[stray cat]

15. Its a way counselors use to prevent suicides actually - to some a promise means something

often its I will not kill myself before calling a counselor. Anything to get people to postpone and think about it first - not much different than telling them who will take care of their children if they kill themselves.

Its often small connections and responsibilities that can prevent a suicide.

[laughingliberal]

20. +1 nt

[HopeHoops]

16. There are some REALLY stiff penalties if you don't follow the pledge.

"stiff" being the operative.

[Enrique]

19. it's bad for business when your workers all kill themselves n/t

[hobbit709]

25. What if someone decides to go postal instead of just suicidal?

[Bluenorthwest]

26. If I get a phone made by a suicide worker

Does that make me as cool as Justin Long?