14 DAY TRIAL // Foxconn used to be known only as one of Apple's main product and component suppliers, but the past two years have seen it amass a different kind of fame on top of that.
Whether because of poor management, unfair employee policies or just big misunderstandings, the IT player has become the poster child for what should not happen at a company's facilities.
There were multiple suicides at the Chengdu plant last year and, more recently, the workers there threatened with a mass suicide.
We've been following the whole mess and each time something happens, Foxconn makes a statement, Apple makes a statement, but nothing seems to get solved, pay rise or no.
Case in point: there was a very big riot at that very same iPad and iPhone-producing Chengdu plant.
Approximately 1,000 workers revolted, because of pent-up tensions, ongoing discontent and a theft that happened at the worst possible time.
Guards were trying to kidnap a thief, which was when some workers, who had grudges against the guards, tried to prevent them from succeeding.
After that, the whole deal somehow degenerated into a big riot. About 1,000 workers were chucking garbage, pans, pots and even fireworks from their dorm windows.
Eventually, the police was called in and, after several hours, the situation was brought under control. Several arrests were made, but not before some public facilities were damaged.
If anything, all those times when Apple and Foxconn said it was “all about worker’s happiness” and promised to improve working conditions didn't lead to real-life solutions, at least not to a level that the workers approve of.
Even if things have improved, it won't do much to make up for all the hardship that people previously underwent there, and humans can have very long memories. All in all, Foxconn may have stopped suicides (for now), but it hasn't truly fixed things yet.