Chinese iPod maker ordered to unionize

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Chinese iPod maker ordered to unionize

Hongfujin Precision Industry Co., the unit of Foxconn responsible for building Apple’s iPod, has been told by the Chinese government to let its more than 200,000 workers form a trade union. The Associtated Press reports: “Hongfujin Precision Industry Co. is on a list of companies in the southern city of Shenzhen that have been ordered to set up such a union, which would be affiliated to the government’s All-China Federation of Trade Unions. China does not allow independent labor organizing, but in recent years it has been pushing foreign invested companies to allow the state-sanctioned labor groups. Such groups are not industry-wide, but represent workers in a single company or sales outlet. They traditionally have been allied with management.” Foxconn has been at the center of labor violation claims this year following reports of substandard working and living conditions at its iPod factory.

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Comments

1

I find this very interesting because China has been wanting to improve workers’ rights and what better place to start than with a foreign company and, even better, a Taiwanese one.

http://www.chinalawblog.com

Posted by China Law Blog on September 2, 2006 at 10:06 AM (PST)

2

Interesting how China only wants foreign firms to unionize. The government obviously doesn’t expect it to be a boon to business there.

Posted by Saffire on September 2, 2006 at 12:53 PM (PST)

3

Actually China’s rise in the past 15 years has largely been a result of direct foreign investment- if anything, it should want to facilitate this.

These unions may raise wages slightly, making it somewhat less appealing to move labor-intensive infrastructure (e.g., iPod assembly) to China.

But in the grand scheme, I don’t see it to matter much.

Posted by peter on September 2, 2006 at 9:53 PM (PST)

4

Easier to pick on those ‘evil’ foreign corporations than focus on their own internal failings.

Posted by flatline response on September 3, 2006 at 11:24 AM (PST)

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