“We knew there’s a newly built manufacturing facility for the iPhone in Zhengzhou, China. And the plant cranks out about 200,000 iPhones per day,” Chris Chang reports for M.I.C. Gadget. “Here’s something we just [discovered] today, and really surprised us. 70 percent of the production for the iPhone now comes from Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant, and the iPhone production line in the Zhengzhou plant is aiming to crank out 400,000 iPhones per day.”
Chang reports, “Here comes a question, will the working condition in Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant get much more stressful with the aim to crank out 400,000 iPhones per day? Well, workers who are working at the iPhone production line in Zhengzhou were interviewed, and they seemed to be alright… One of the Foxconn workers said she receives two 15-minute paid rest breaks at noon and afternoon, one 50-minute meal period in each workday in which she work at least eight hours. And she earns 2,000-3,000 yuan ($316 – $474) per month. Another female worker who just got hired is responsible to do checking on connectors and tiny components to see if they are washed out, oxidized, or out of shape. The Chinese reporter then asked the worker whether her eyes get tired when checking the components, and the worker replied: No.
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Assuming the lowest wage of $316 earned by the worker described in the article was for 40 hours per week, the hourly wage would be around $2 per hour.
A quick check of minimum wage in US indicates that GA is lowest at $5.15. There are 5 states with no minimum wage.
Jobs complained to the President that one of the biggest issues of bringing this manufacturing to the US was not labor costs but finding the number of engineers needed to manage this workflow.
But these factories also need work forces in the 100,000s. Finding that workforce could also be difficult unless it was in a densely populated region.
I believe those wages include housing and healthcare as well, not to mention the purchasing power of a dollar goes much further in China.
In the late sixties, I made $1.98 minimum wage as a university student. In those days, that paid for a whole year’s tuition and money for room and breakfast. Student cafeteria dinner was $1.25. this was Canada. My tuition was $515 total per year.
Considering where the Chinese economy is coming from they’ve done a marvellous job getting up to 1960s levels already. They’ll soon be unaffordable as labour.
Can I have the rest of the day off? My eyes are tired…
What happens if her eyes are tired? Is Apple responsible for the working conditions for every worker in China? Are we expecting Apple to force China into a Democratic form of government with progressive labor laws? Maybe all we can hope for is a tiny island (very tiny) of Americanized labor practices in one company. I’m fine with the idea that Apple can require their vendors meet specific guidelines for how they compensate their employees, but to lay all the blame for China’s brutal labor practices at Apple feet is pointless and unfair.