Worker 10th to die at electronics plant in China

A CHINESE employee of the world’s largest electronics company died yesterday after falling from a building.

The death is the 10th this year at Foxconn Technology Group, which manufactures the iPod, Dell computers and Nokia phones.

Police have yet to determine if Li Hai, 19, took his own life after working at the plant for only 42 days, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Foxconn’s massive plant in the southern city of Shenzhen, employs more than 300,000 people.

Two other workers have tried to kill themselves by jumping from buildings in Shenzhen but survived. Another suicide occurred at a smaller plant in northern Hebei province in January.

Labour activists said the string of suicides backs up their allegations that workers toil in terrible conditions at Foxconn. They claim shifts are long, the assembly line moves too fast and managers enforce military-style discipline on the workforce.

In Hong Kong yesterday, about a dozen activists protested at Foxconn offices with signs reading “Foxconn lacks a conscience” and “Suicide is no accident”.

The demonstrators burned cardboard cut-outs resembling iPhones.

But Foxconn insisted that workers are treated well and are protected by social responsibility programmes that ensure their welfare. The factory is a popular place to work, with hordes of applicants lining up for jobs during the hiring season.

Yesterday, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou said: “We are certainly not running a sweatshop. We are confident we’ll be able to stabilise the situation soon.”

Yesterday’s reported death came just three days after a 21-year-old man jumped from a four-story building on Friday.

The highest-profile Foxconn death happened last July when Sun Danyong, 25, jumped to his death after being interrogated over a missing iPhone prototype.