Sacom

Appeal by concerned international scholars:

Create humane labor standards at Foxconn

The tragic series of suicides among young workers of the “Foxconn City” factory compound in Shenzhen, China, has alarmed the world. Until now, only few people knew that this is the largest electronics factory in the world, employing more than 300,000 workers. The factory is run by a large multinational company from Taiwan, Foxconn (a subsidiary of Hon Hai group), which is one of the largest electronics manufacturing companies in the world. It produces for the most famous brand names in the global IT industry such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Nokia or Sony. Since contract manufacturers like Foxconn and their global customers try to keep their manufacturing operations hidden, this system has correctly been labelled “stealth manufacturing”.

Most of the workers in electronics contract manufacturing and its preferred “low-cost locations” in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico, Hungary and other countries in Eastern Europe earn wages below the prevailing national standards. They work in clean and modern factories, but their work is reminiscent of the assembly lines of the early ages of mass production. The workforce of the new factories is made up of rural migrants, most of them women. As global contract manufacturing has grown, labor standards have collapsed and trade unions have been marginalized.

In reaction to the tragic events at Foxconn, a group of nine Chinese sociologists from leading universities in the country have taken the unusual step of issuing a collective appeal. According to their opinion, the crisis at Foxconn reveals deep-ranging problems in China’s current model of economic development, based on low wages, long working hours, and discrimination against rural migrant workers. They challenge the factory regime at Foxconn and call on the Chinese national and local government and the concerned enterprises to allow migrant workers to become “true citizens of the enterprise”.

From an international point of view, we have to call for rigorous action from multiple parties to establish labor standards, occupational and environmental health, and workers’ dignity in manufacturing world-wide, particularly in supplier manufacturing factories. The noted British business journal The Economist is aptly stating that “a firm and an industry that has become accustomed to obscurity will have to get used to the limelight” (May 29, 2010).

Changes in the labor policies of the contract manufacturing sector must be based on a comprehensive effort to restore transparency and public scrutiny over the contract relations between brand name and contract manufacturing companies. Meticulous attention needs to be devoted to labor, health and environmental standards, as well as to democratic participation of workers at the workplace. The so-called “Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC)” – a code of conduct and mechanism of consultation established by major IT companies – has failed completely to secure basic standards of work, environmental justice and social responsibility throughout the electronics industry and its “supply chains”.

Workers must have a right to:

• Representation and collective bargaining by trade unions to defend their interests and rights.
• Information about, and protection from, hazardous materials used in manufacturing.
• Guarantees of working hours and work intensity that will not threaten physical or mental health.

Communities, government agencies, and the public have a right to know:

• What are the working conditions in contract factories and whether the basic rights of workers are respected?
• What hazardous materials are used in manufacturing and whether the manufacturing process complies with internationally accepted standards of occupational safety and health?
• Where, by whom, and under which conditions brand name products are manufactured?
• What are the financial and economic conditions of manufacturing contracts between brand names and their suppliers, and whether suppliers and manufacturers are squeezed?
• What impact corporate decisions on the allocation of manufacturing contracts, downsizing and closings of factories, and the establishment of new manufacturing facilities have on communities?

In the light of these urgent questions, we call on the relevant companies and government agencies in China and internationally to support an independent international investigation of the economic, financial and social backgrounds of the tragic events at Foxconn. Such an investigation should be led by the International Labour Organization with participation from independent academic experts, trade unions, labor and environmental NGOs, and other organizations with relevant expertise in the field, excluding those who are linked to corporate interests or have received substantial funding from the affected corporations in recent years.

SIGNATORS: (list in formation)

Amanda Bell, Columbia University - USA

Andre Laliberte, University of Ottawa – Canada

Andrew Ross, New York University - USA

Andrew Watterson, University of Stirling - Scotland

Andy Danford, University of Bristol - UK

Anita Chan, University of Technology, Sydney - Australia

Anita Koo, Hong Kong Polytechnic University – Hong Kong

Anthony Spires, Chinese University of Hong Kong - Hong Kong

Barbary Schulte, Lund University – Sweden

Barry Sautman, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Hong Kong

Boy Luethje, University of Frankfurt - Germany

Brendan Smith, University of California, Los Angeles - USA

Carolyn Cartier, University of Technology, Sydney - Australia

Catia Gregoratti, Lund University, Sweden

Chad Raphael, Santa Clara University - USA

Chi-Kwan Ho, Hong Kong Polytechnic University – Hong Kong

Ching-Kwan Lee, University of California, Los Angeles – US

Chris Smith, Royal Holloway, University of London – UK

Chris Tilly, University of Caluifornia Los Angeles – USA

Christina Chan, University of California, Santa Barbara—USA

Christine Cooper, University of Strathclyde, Scotland – UK

Christoph Scherrer, Univ of Kassel - Germany

Daniel You-Ren Yang, Tung Hai University – Taiwan

Dara O’Rourke, University of California, Berkeley – USA

David Bensman, Rutgers University – USA

David Foust Rodríguez, Universidad de Guadalajara - Mexico

David Harvey, City University of New York – USA

David Kotz, University of Massachusetts Amherst – USA

Dorothy J. Solinger-University of California, Irvine – USA

Edna Bonacich, University of California, Riverside – USA

Eileen Boris, University of California, Santa Barbara - USA

Elaine Bernard, Harvard University - USA

Eli Friedman, University of California, Berkeley - USA

Ellen David Friedman, Sun Yat-Sen University - PRC

Elly Leung, University of Western Australia – Australia

Francesca Degiuli, City University of New York - US

Fred Y. L. Chiu, Academia Sinica - Taiwan

Greg King (emeritus), Tokai Gakuen, Nagoya – Japan

Gregor Benton, University of Malaya – Malaysia

Gregor Gall, University of Hertfordshire – UK

Gregory Mantsios, City University of New York - USA

Gyoergy Szell, Univ of Osnabrück – Germany

Hai-Rong Yan, Hong Kong Polytechnic University – Hong Kong

Ho-Fung Hung, Indiana University-Bloomington - USA

Hong-Zen Wang, National Sun Yat-sen University - Taiwan

Horen Voskeritsian, Athens University of Economics and Business - Greece

Hsin-Hsing Chen, Shih-Hsin University - Taiwan

Ian Fitzgerald, Northumbria University - UK

Ian Cook, University of Exeter - UK

Jean-Christophe Graz, University of Lausanne – Switzerland

Jeffrey Henderson, University of Bristol – UK

Jenny Wai-Ling Chan, Royal Holloway, University of London – UK

Jinn-Yuh Hsu, National Taiwan University – Taiwan

Joce Jesson, University of Auckland – New Zealand

John Trumpbour, Harvard University - USA

Kate Bronfenbrenner, Cornell University – USA

Katie Quan, University of California, Berkeley - USA

Ken Jacobs, University of California, Berkeley – USA

Kent Wong, UCLA Labor Center – USA

Kevin Lin, University of Technology, Sydney - Australia

Kim Moody, University of Hertfordshire – UK

King-Chi Chan, City University of Hong Kong - Hong Kong

Kitty Krupat, City University of New York – USA

Lina Isacs, Stockholm University – Sweden

Loong Wong, University of Canberra – Australia

Louise Lamphere, University of New Mexico – USA

Marc Blecher, Oberlin College – USA

Marcos Ancelovici, McGill University – Canada

Mark Selden, Cornell University - USA

María Guadalupe López Pedroza- Universidade de Guadalajara - Mexico

Martina Sproll, University of Marburg – Germany

Meei-Shia Chen, National Cheng Kung University - Taiwan

Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley – USA

Michael Fichter, Free University Berlin - Germany

Michael Gillan, University of Western Australia - Australia

Michael H. Belzer, Wayne State University - USA

Michael Rafferty, University of Sydney - Australia

Mirana May Szeto, University of Hong Kong – Hong Kong

Mobo Gao, University of Adelaide - Australia

Nancy MacLean, Northwestern University - USA

Nelson Lichtenstein, University of California, Santa Barbara - USA

Ngai Pun, Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Hong Kong

Nicola Phillips, University of Manchester – UK

Parry Pak-Nang Leung, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Hong Kong

Paul Jobin, Université Paris-Diderot – France

Peter Evans, University of California, Berkeley - USA

Phil Taylor, University of Strathclyde - UK

Ralph Litzinger, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University – USA

Rasmus Larsen, Stockholm University – Sweden

Richard Appelbaum, University of California, Santa Barbara - USA

Richard Walker, University of California, Berkeley - USA

Robert Ross, Clark University - USA

Rosemary Webb, Southern Cross University, Australia

Russell C. Leong, University of California, Los Angeles - USA

Ruth Milkman, City University of New York - USA

Sally Alvarez, Cornell University – USA

Sandra Sturdevant, University of California, Santa Cruz - USA

Saul Thomas, University of Chicago – USA

Saundra Sturdevant, Documentary Photographer & Historian – USA

Simon Clarke, University of Warwick - UK

Stephanie Luce, City University of New York - USA

Stephen Philion, St. Cloud State University - USA

Steve Davies, Cardiff University – UK

Steve French, Keele University – UK

Sun Wook Chung, Cornell University - UN

Tim Pringle, University of Warwick – UK

Timothy Cheek, University of British Columbia – Canada

Toby Miller, University of California, Riverside – USA

Tze-Ken Yau, City University of Hong Kong - Hong Kong

Wan-Wen Chu, Academia Sinica – Taiwan

Wilhelm Schumm, University of Frankfurt - Germany

Xiao-Dan Zhang, City University of New York – USA

Yi Xu, Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Hong Kong

Yu Zheng, Royal Holloway, University of London – UK

Yun-Chung Chen, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Hong Kong

Zillah Eisenstein, Ithaca College - USA