Labor Conditions of Foxconn Employees, as Seen by their Fellow Countryman
By 
The New York Times recently published an article entitled “In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad.” The article is part of a new series, called “The iEconomy” that talks about Apple’s collaboration with the overseas market. Soon after it was published, the New York Times collaborated with Chinese-language business magazine Caixin. The responses to the article are worthy of headline news. However, they didn’t make it to the New York Times itself. The comments were published on the newspaper’s blog, The Lede to little fanfare.
According to The Lede, the collaboration was two-fold. “To share the content of the article with readers in China, and to solicit Chinese comments for translation into English that might prove illuminating for readers of the English-language article on NYTimes.com.” Illuminate us they did.
Surprisingly, many who commented were largely in defense of Apple and their partnership with Foxconn.
Without Apple, Chinese workers will be worse off. I hope China can some day soon have dozens of its own companies like Apple, who (only) work on high-end research and development and send manufacturing lines to Africa. —Anonymous
If people saw what kind of life workers lived before they found a job at Foxconn, they would come to an opposite conclusion of this story: that Apple is such a philanthropist. — Zhengchu1982
If the story is simply blaming Apple and Foxconn, then it is simplifying the problem. Other companies including HTC, Lenovo, HP and Sony, and their OEM (original equipment manufacturer) companies such as Wistron, Quanta and Inventec, share the same situation. Workers of small OEM enterprises are working in even harsher environments and having more overtime. The root is that they are unable to reach a higher position in the industry chain. Also, there are no effective labor organizations in those factories and the government tends to shield huge companies because of their profits. — Freestyle-coming
Not all who commented were pro-Apple, but many were at least stating that the problem lies with the Country’s laws.
I read this story and I’m saddened. It’s not only Apple that should be blamed, but also the system that tolerates its existence. Made-in-China should not be synonymous with the blood and sacrifice of young lives. — Evita
Even though Apple should be ethically condemned, the key point is: whether the working conditions inside the factories are supervised by law. This (supervision) is the duty of judicial officers and labor unions. Now everything is driven only by G.D.P., so which government official would dare supervise those companies? They (the governments) have long reduced themselves to the servant of the giant enterprises. — Occasional Think
The original article about working conditions in plants that partner with Apple was hard to read. Knowing that people are treated so poorly is heart wrenching. The comments by Chinese-language readers were even harder. There are many who said that this type of existence, as hard as it is, is preferable to not having work at all.
