A14 year old boy dies at Asus partner plant. TechEye reports. Read more: http://news.techeye.net/business/14-year-old-boy-dies-at-asus-partner-plant
That is terrible. If I was the boss over at ASUS I would not be able to sleep at night knowing my employees were as young as that, Worse is they are dropping dead due to poor working conditions. Shame on you ASUS!!!!! And to think there are politicos/business leaders in the west who look to this conduct as an economic model!!!!
Yeah I think we need to know what the cause of death was before we start slamming this. The unfortunate truth is that half the contents of an average house are built by 'younger people'. He could have had a medical condition that the company didn't know about and he died from that for all we know. It also happened 10 days ago yet hasn't made it onto any significant media website...
More likely the kid or his family falsified it's own records, to provide income for their family. Like if it was any different in any communist country ever. 100% of plan was not worth mentoining.
So sad. We are to blame here. We want the lowest price and many just don't care how its gets there. The world economy is getting better as are conditions, BUT our massive need for goods at a cheap price leads many down the wrong path. Companies are just starting to come back to the US because we truly do produce great products. Those that choose to do that will do just fine as people want affordability, but we also want quality. Our throw away society has had serious consequences. Hopefully those companies that are still using underage, overworked labor are starting to think about more than just the dollar. Again, so sad.
I disagree with that last statement. Yes there are companies like that, but there are just as many that are not. I am from the US and like many others do not want to become a Walmart society. My family in particular only buys US designed and manufactured cars, appliances, clothes (for the most part), locally grown food and really anything else we can find with the Made In The USA logo. I am proud to spend more for those things and wish more people would do the same. I don't think anyone wants others to suffer, especially from products that bring us joy. And no I am not against products from the EU as many companies over there take pride in what they make and low cost is not the first idea.
Things are rarely black and white. Cheap labour such as that used by Foxconn and Asus offer invaluable jobs and livelihoods to those who may otherwise be forced to look elsewhere, often to less savoury jobs. In Cambodia for example the loathsome sweetshop factories are vital in helping take young girls and boys out of prostitution and organised crime. Ultimately money is money, that 14 years old boy may have been using his earnings to feed and provide for his family. The pay offered in mass-production facilities usually match local rates and offer a far better option than unemployment. You also need to keep in mind for many rural children they are expected to work from a young age and not aim for a higher education. I do agree that pay and care should try to match the standard of the west, as it is we are exploiting those in need, however it’s important to keep in mind the fact that forcing company’s like Nike, Asus, Foxconn etc… to increase pay for workers in a region will simply encourage them to go elsewhere, leaving the desperately overpopulated china with even fewer jobs than before. Also note ‘partner’, controlling the standards of partners can be extremely difficult. It’s the actions of Asus after this case has surfaced that matter. If they cease its use of force higher standards then they at the very least show an appreciation of stakeholder views. If they however ignore this case all-together well that is their decision and their products will continue to sell.
No that is not it. Even if people were willing to pay a high price for everything, the same situation will stay.. including and not limited to produce crappy quality products. Why? Because it's all about pleasing their investors, and fill their pockets.. so in other words, maximize like no tomorrow their profits. What you need, is that the companies comes and say to their investors.. look at this product.. it sales like hotcakes, because it's high quality and people love this, but we can't increase the price, as based on our calculations and estimation, and as you can see from this other company that doesn't go well for them, we can't hire kids because people don't buy our products if that happens, and in fact, people don't buy anything that isn't local. So we can't make more money.. therefore we will continue to produce and innovate this product as it gives us a steady stream of money.. and what we will do is try new products, which we hope to be as successful, which will increase a lot our profits margins.
That would be lovely if it worked. But boycotting isn't about to do Jack diddley squat for a large company... Not every record has to be made public, and if bad publicity arises they can always find a way around it. I'm not targeting ASUS here, but an incredible number of multinational and very popular companies do this and get away with it every day. Plus, like Metaporic said, there are two faces to every coin. You have to remember what their society is like in that region before we all grab our pitchforks and shotguns on the company in question. That and things like falsified applications, forms, and all the bureaucracy of it.
Companies would be able to convince their shareholders better if consumers give the clear message that they want to make ethical buying choices, by demanding and valuing the ethical production of a product rather than just its features or price. Think of a Fairtrade smartphone, for instance.
interestingly - because of the strengthening Chinese economy - companies are moving away from china for production , as when you factor in transport costs and import duty and rapidly rising Chinese wages, its close to parity to manufacture closer to home
A lot more goes into those ROG boards than I ever imagined. Very sad to hear that people have to work in those conditions in this day and age. And here's me feeling sorry for myself that I have to work from 08:30 - 1700 with an hours lunch. Unless we are prepared to pay more for our toy's then I suppose little is going to change.
I don't buy Asus products due to their dismal customer service and non existent RMA after one year (ends up they're in the Czech republic). Mind you, not that any of the companies I do buy from are saints...
Asus / Apple / Gigabyte / Samsung you name a tech company they are all guilty of this under 16 working stuff. People want cheaper products the above is the cost of that practice.
Well I somewhat agree, but since when has it made Apple's crap any cheaper? Most of Apple's stuff is made by Foxconn any way, who are known for being tossers.. I must say though I do agree with what was said above about these people at least having jobs to go to that give them money. If all of the big manus pulled out and moved to say, America, then they would likely starve to death.
Foxconn make products for alot more companies than just apple. Sony, Microsoft Gigabyte Samsung to name a few are also part of there distribution.
I'd like the relay what Metaporic has said (broadly that actually, the presence of these companies can be a force for good) and add that it's rare that these problems can be fixed just by throwing a bit more money at them. In reality, it's actually quite hard to elevate people out of poverty without a large infrastructure (in the more abstract sense) to support you which means that the biggest gains would be widespread political pressure, not just penalising a single scapegoat. That said, perhaps we consider any changes from that angle hopeless and that we're just taking a moral stance not to take part in it. Also, while I won't deny that large corporations do tend to be amoral, they are staffed, managed and invested in by normal people just like anyone else (although I guess there is a bias towards the more ruthless in all these positions). Minor point, but people seem to forget it. Final point is that it does seem fairly unremarkable news, the only noteworthy point is that the worker is so young.
