Foxconn Protest Leads to Suicide Threats

Protesting workers at Foxconn’s Wuhan factory in China aren’t happy with their current pay scale, and some have even gone so far as to threaten to jump off a building. About 200 factory workers were involved in the protest that parent company Hon Hai Precision said has been resolved.

Foxconn workers threatened to jump off a building over pay ratesFoxconn workers threatened to jump off a building over pay rates

“The dispute has already been settled after some negotiations involving the human resources and legal departments as well as the local government,” Hon Hai spokesman Simon Tsing told Reuters. He added that no one has actually jumped off buildings.

The workers were complaining that they made less money working at the Wuhan factory compared to their previous jobs.

Foxconn recently agreed to raise employee wages to offset lost overtime as part of an effort to comply with local labor laws. Apple has been supportive of the plan, although employees were concerned that they wouldn’t make as much money. Many Apple products, including the iPhone and iPad, are assembled in Foxconn facilities.

“We have just been told that we can only work a maximum of 36 hours a month of overtime. I tell you, a lot of us are unhappy with this,” Foxconn factory worker Chen Yamie said. “We think that 60 hours of overtime a month would be reasonable and that 36 hours would be too little.”

The pay scale and overtime changes followed a Fair Labor Association audit that revealed what the organization called “significant issues” with working conditions in the factories.

Foxconn employs more than 1.2 million workers at its factories.