Thank you for offering so much information about the horrendous labor practices behind the admittedly fabulous iPhone. I will definitely boycott as the awesome price of $199 does not apply to existing AT&T customers with more than a year left on their contracts. I wonder how is it so easy to overlook a corporation's psychotic indifference to their employees' quality of life. Maybe racism? Because it's not simply that these people are in factories too far away for us to care. When thr Columbia Spectator reported on how the owners of Saigon Grill and Ollie's abused their delivery staff (paid them $2/hour, stole their tips, threatened them), the two restaurants declined in popularity only briefly, even though all their regular customers have seen and interacted with the poor employees. Maybe such indifference in favor convenience (food, magic phones) is an evolutionary trait?

You raise a wonderful point about the need for constant vigilance on poor labor practices and the equivocal results of reform. Just like at times there seems to be nostalgia in the US for the American manufacturing jobs that have departed for unionless countries with citizens with fewer options outside of $5/hour canning factories (for example, Empire Falls by Richard Russo is all about a dying factory town in Maine). In this case the country might be enacting laws more progressive than what the people are ready for, simply because many would rather have factory jobs than not. Also, the actual effectiveness of so-called reforms in China are always suspicious because who knows if anyone will actually enforce minimum wage and hours requirements in towns utterly dependent on such factories. The relatively new labor laws are more likely another method of making doing business in China increasing difficult for foreign companies producing products native companies have learned to make. Hopefully, reforms will not result in extreme unemployment as in Taiwan - how many other easily accessible, densely populated countries are left after all, especially in East Asia? Though, a loss to the increasing wealthy city of Shenzhen (lots of new technology and software companies, rapid raise in real estate prices) of some Foxconn plants due to Shenzhen's being economically secure enough to demand hire minimum wages will be a gain to the poorer, smaller coastal town of Yantai, with more lenient labor laws, I assume since almost no major industry besides tourism after the beaches finally were cleaned up and fisheries closed. (chinadaily.net/business/2010-06/13/content_9974878.htm)

PS: Foxconn is trying to prevent suicides by installing safety nets around factory and dormitory buildings. I expect knifes and ropes and belts will be soon confiscated from cafeterias and dorm rooms as well.

http://www.chinaadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/27/content_9897080.htm

-- CeciliaWang - 29 Jun 2010