Foxconn has finally made good on its promise to raise salaries for its factory workers. The company, originally announcing the idea of a 30 percent wage increase back in July of 2010, has announced that it will raise wages for its assembly line workers in China between 16 to 25 percent. Apple’s manufacturing partner will begin paying its employees between 2,200 and 2,500 yuan ($349) per month, up previously from 1,800 yuan ($285), should employees pass a three month technical examination.
Originally the wage increase was going to reach a ceiling of 2,000 yuan for employees; however, Foxconn has increased the wage rates to a maximum of 2,200 yuan.
The move comes after a recent barrage in negative press, with everyone from the New York Times to major television networks running articles and reports on the conditions of workers in Foxconn’s plants. Foxconn manufactures products for major technology companies such as Microsoft, Nintendo, and Apple.
Minimum wage in the region is roughly 1,500 yuan ($238) per month, making workers in the Shenzhen province amongst the highest minimum wage workers in the country.
This pay increase is the second major salary hike in less than two years at the company. The first coming after a cluster of suicides at the plant. Back in June (2010), Foxonn agreed to increase wages by 30 percent. By the numbers, the first announcement, scheduled to be implemented in July of 2010, failed to reach its goal. Today, it’s being announced that Foxconn plans on finally implementing the remainder of its promise to its employees.
We should point out that these recent promises could easily be rolled out like those promises from June. It’s easy to say you’re going to do something, but it’s a lot more difficult to actually do it. It’s taken Foxconn nine months to come through on their original promises, and this time it’s only under the guise of a second major wage increase, when in reality, Foxconn already promised a wage increase to 2,000 yuan per month in July. According to the recent reports, Foxconn employees were still sitting at 1,800 yuan per month before this major announcement, a full ten percent less than they were promised back in June.
