Foxconn altruism

A recent decision to increase wages for about one million Foxconn workers in China was made "before auditors arrived to observe manufacturing and labor practices," the Taiwanese technology group said Tuesday.

"We did not get a chance to make the announcement [of wage hikes] until Saturday because we were busy with the labor audits," Foxconn spokesman Simon Hsing said.

Hsing claimed the 16 to 25-percent wage hike for its assembly line workers in China took effect on February 1, while auditors arrived on February 13.

"We raised wages because Foxconn has always strived to remain at the forefront of electronics manufacturing and fair labor standards," Hsing said, adding that the Taiwan-based company wanted to become a "model for worker compensation" in China.

Slave-labor image

Following a New York Times report about poor safety, low pay and excessive overtime at Foxconn factories in China, US-based gadget-maker Apple Inc. – Foxconn's biggest customer – hired the non-profit group Fair Labor Association (FLA) to carry out inspections at the plants.

Foxconn's Chinese workers assemble iPhones and iPads for Apple, as well as Xbox video game consoles for Mircrosoft Corp. and computers for Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

There were allegations that the company ran excessively fast assembly lines and demanded too much overtime – stress factors that had been responsible for several worker suicides and attempted suicides in recent years.

In response to the criticism, Foxconn announced Saturday that it would raise wages to between 1,800 to 2,500 yuan ($285 to $400) per month and reduce overtime.

Apple said the FLA's findings would be posted on its website, fairlabor.org, in early March.

uh/nk (dpa, AFP)