【英语中国】富士康自杀事件引起中国政府重视

The top Communist Party official of Guangdong called for companies to improve conditions for workers after a spate of suicides by employees of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. in the southern Chinese province, state media reported.

The comments Saturday by Wang Yang, provincial party secretary, are the highest-level statement about the spate of worker deaths at Taiwan-based Hon Hai, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics. Ten workers have jumped to their deaths this year, and three more have been injured in suicide attempts, for reasons the company and outside experts have struggled to explain.

Mr. Wang, who also sits on the party's 25-member ruling Politburo, said party and government organizations and Hon Hai must 'work together and take effective measures to prevent similar tragedies from happening again,' the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The report didn't quote Mr. Wang assigning blame for the deaths to Hon Hai, which has announced a series of measures to improve conditions, including employee hot lines and nets on dormitories to prevent fatal jumps.

Mr. Wang spoke a day after a spokesman for Hon Hai, also known by its trade name, Foxconn, said the company has decided to increase wages for its factory workers in China by an average of 20%. Edmund Ding, the spokesman, said the decision wasn't driven by the suicides, but rather had been under discussion 'for a long time' as a way to address concerns about a tightening supply of workers.

Mr. Wang's comments illustrate authorities' concern over the potential public fallout from the suicides. The deaths have attracted global scrutiny to the secretive Hon Hai, which assembles personal computers and other gadgets for Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Nokia Corp. and others.

Speaking in Shenzhen, the city where the suicides have occurred and where Hon Hai employs more than 400,000 workers, Mr. Wang said 'labor unions in private firms should be improved to facilitate better working conditions and more harmonious relations between workers and employers,' Xinhua reported.

Mr. Wang called for more recreational and sports activities among workers to enhance communication. 'Economic development should be people-oriented,' Xinhua quoted Mr. Wang as saying.

Varying explanations have been offered for the Hon Hai deaths. They appear to be what is known as a suicide cluster, in which one suicide triggers copycat acts. Some researchers have said some in the current generation of workers are also more psychologically conflicted about their place in society than previous workers. Labor groups have said the suicides also reflect excessive overtime and overly intense work regimens at Hon Hai.

Hon Hai has defended its treatment of workers, while expressing regret over the deaths and vowing to do all it can to prevent further suicides.

Mr. Ding, the Hon Hai spokesman, said the company hasn't finalized the date to carry out the wage increases, but 'it should be very soon.' Hon Hai has authorized managers in different Chinese provinces to determine the size of wage increases. 'It would be an average 20% increase, which means some areas will be more than 20%,' he said.

Hon Hai employs more than 800,000 workers in several provinces in China. Workers at its giant Longhua plant in Shenzhen are paid a base monthly salary of 900 yuan, or about $132, the legal minimum wage in that district. But most work overtime, which can pay 1.5 times the standard hourly rate.

Citigroup analysts estimated that the wage increases might cost the company 2.7 billion New Taiwan dollars ($84 million) a quarter, likely slicing 10% to 12% off operating profit. But some analysts said it is too early to estimate the likely impact on profit.

中国官方媒体报道，中共广东省委最高级官员要求各公司改善用工环境，此前鸿海精密工业股份有限公司(Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.)在华员工发生一系列自杀事件。

广东省委书记汪洋周六发表的讲话是针对鸿海公司一系列员工死亡事件的最高级别声明。鸿海公司总部位于台湾，是世界最大的电子设备合同制造商。今年，这家公司已有10名员工跳楼身亡，另有三名员工因企图自杀而受伤。该公司及外界专家正努力解释相关原因。

中国官方媒体新华社报道，汪洋说党、政府组织和鸿海公司必须共同努力，采取切实可行措施，全力防止类似事件再次发生。汪洋是中央政治局25名委员之一。

European Pressphoto Agency鸿海精密的工人在深圳工厂做工报道并未引述汪洋是否因自杀事件而谴责鸿海公司。后者已宣布了一系列改善用工条件的措施，包括开通员工热线以及在宿舍装安全网以防止员工跳楼自杀。

汪洋发表讲话的前一天，鸿海公司发言人丁祈安(Edmund Ding)说公司已决定将其在华工厂员工的工资平均上调20%。丁祈安说这一决定与自杀事件无关，而是已讨论了很长时间，是针对用工紧张的问题采取的措施。鸿海公司的商标名称为富士康(Foxconn)。

汪洋的讲话表明当局担心自杀事件的潜在公开影响。鸿海公司为苹果公司(Apple Inc.)、惠普公司(Hewlett-Packard Co.)和诺基亚(Nokia Corp.)等公司组装个人电脑及其它电子设备，员工死亡事件已引发全球对这家行事隐秘的公司的密切关注。

据新华社报道，汪洋在深圳说，要在非公有制企业中完善工会组织，优化企业用工管理环境，建立和谐的劳动关系。鸿海公司在深圳工厂的员工超过400,000人，自杀事件亦发生在深圳。

汪洋要求组织更多的文体活动，增强员工之间的互助交流。新华社称汪洋表示，经济发展应“以人为本”。

针对鸿海公司员工死亡事件出现了各种解释。显然这是一种群发性自杀，即一人自杀引发多人效仿。一些研究者说，针对自己在社会中的位置，部分当代工人比上一代工人在心理上更为矛盾。劳工组织说自杀现象也反映出鸿海公司存在过度加班和工作制度压力过大等问题。

鸿海公司对其用工条件进行了辩护，但同时也对死亡事件表示遗憾，并承诺尽一切努力防止再次发生自杀事件。

鸿海公司发言人丁祈安说公司还未确定加薪的最终日期，但表示应当会很快。鸿海公司公司已授权大陆各省的管理层自行决定加薪比例。他说，平均加薪幅度为20%，这意味着一些地区将高于20%。

鸿海公司在中国大陆多个省份拥有员工80多万人。在其规模巨大的深圳龙华厂，员工的每月底薪为900元人民币（约合132美元），是该地区的法定最低工资。但大多数员工超时工作，加班费为标准小时工资的1.5倍。

花旗集团(Citigroup)分析师估计，鸿海公司为此次加薪所付出的成本或达每季度27亿新台币(合8,400万美元)，有可能减少其10%至12%的运营利润。但部分分析师说做此估计为时尚早。