“Another group of workers at Foxconn have taken to the roof and threatened to kill themselves in protest at working conditions and pay,” Tim Worstall reports for Forbes.
“This is of course immediately reported as being about Apple who are indeed one of Foxconn’s major customers,” Worstall reports. “All of which is rather odd because the dispute doesn’t seem to be about manufacturing Apple equipment at all, but about Microsoft. Here’s how Reuters reported the story: ‘Workers at a Chinese factory owned by Foxconn, Apple Inc’s main manufacturer, threatened to jump off the roof of a building in a protest over wages just a month after the two firms announced a landmark agreement on improving working conditions.’ They then go on to point out that Apple’s profits and sales are soaring.”
Worstall reports, “Now they don’t actually say that this protest is about Apple, that’s true. But it’s also the impression you get from reading the piece, that it is indeed about Apple. What with all the talk about the 2010 suicides, the FLA investigation into Foxconn at Apple’s invitation and so on. However, there’s a rather important detail left out of that report… The plant doesn’t have anything to do with Apple. It produces for Microsoft [Xbox 360]. And yet most of the news stories are leading with headlines about Apple.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we explained a mere five days ago, “When it comes to Apple, Reuters is the new CNET.”
Related articles:
Chinese Foxconn workers protest wages, threaten to jump off roof – April 27, 2012
Apple supplier Foxconn cuts working hours; workers worry, question why – March 30, 2012
Foxconn: The fire that wasn’t – March 15, 2012
Apple supplier Foxconn again lifts pay for China workers; 16-25 percent increase – February 17, 2012
FLA President: Foxconn factories ‘first-class; way, way above average’ – February 15, 2012
Thousands line up for iPhone assembly jobs at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou, China plant – January 30, 2012
Foxconn’s 2012 plan: More robots, no layoffs, zero suicides, new factories – November 22, 2011
Apple audit led by COO Tim Cook prompted improvements at Foxconn – February 14, 2011
Media blows it: Foxconn employees face significantly lower suicide risk – May 28, 2010
