Andre Yoskowitz
29 May 2010 1:46
Hon Hai Precision Industry of Taiwan, the owners of manufacturer Foxconn, say they plan to raise worker's salaries by 20 percent amidst a flood of worker suicides at their Chinese factory.
Foxconn is the maker of the Apple iPhone.
Ten employees of the manufacturer have died via suicide this year, with the latest happening this week, and public anger at the company is rising. On Thursday, an 11th employee tried to kill himself, slitting his wrists. He was revived by a medical team.
Edmund Ding of Hon Hai said the salary increase had been planned for months.
One of the factory's employees, surnamed Wang, said the increase should help with current spate of deaths: "It may help the suicide situation, because we workers just need money and the financial pressure on us is great. Every little bit helps."
Line workers at the factory make about 900 yuan ($131.80 USD) per month, and the company was allegedly giving 100,000 yuan to compensate families of suicide victims.
Foxconn has a massive amount of employees in China, around 420,000.