【英语社会】富士康坠楼事件引人质疑苹果等公司

The death of another employee at Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer and assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry not only casts scrutiny on the working conditions at its factories in China, but could also fuel concerns for U.S. companies like Apple and Hewlett-Packard that sell products made by Hon Hai.

An employee of Hon Hai died after falling from a building at the firm's plant in southern China Tuesday, following several others this year, China's state media Xinhua news agency reported. Most have been ruled suicides, although the most recent death and several others have not been classified.

The cause of the spate in suicides among workers at Hon Hai, which also is known by its trade name Foxconn, is hard to pinpoint. Statistically, the rate of suicides isn't exceptional given the size of the company's staff - it has 800,000 workers in China, about half of those in Shenzhen - and it's unclear to what degree the wave of incidents is a result of copycat behavior as found in suicide clusters elsewhere or if there are other factors.

Critics have voiced concern that working conditions and long hours at the Taiwanese firm's factories have added too much pressure on its staff, most of whom are young migrant workers. News Agency GlobalPost conducted an investigation last November uncovering the poor working conditions of employees at some of the suppliers of consumer electronics products. Hon Hai's chairman defended the company's practices earlier this week and said it is 'definitely not a sweatshop,' the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Apple spokeswoman Jill Tan said Tuesday: 'We are definitely concerned … but would like to emphasize that Apple is committed to ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility wherever Apple products are made.'

Apple conducts annual reviews of final assembly manufacturers to uncover any possible violations of its Suppliers' code of conduct. In its 2010 Supplier Responsibility Report, it found that 65% of the 102 facilities it audited were paying the wages and benefits due to workers. But it didn't say if Hon Hai was one of the suppliers that violated its code of conduct.

A Singapore-based spokeswoman from Hewlett-Packard said the firm has 'high standards in place with suppliers to ensure workers are treated with dignity and respect,' adding that it 'vigorously' investigates concerns about its suppliers' practices.

Labor-watch groups have urged electronics makers to take a more active stance toward the labor practices of suppliers. A study conducted by the Center for Research on Multinational Corporations last May said that most codes of conduct of electronics makers, such as Apple, are insufficient. It also pointed out that though Apple conducts annual audits of suppliers, it doesn't disclose who they are, citing nondisclosure agreements.

台湾电子制造与组装企业鸿海精密工业股份有限公司(Hon Hai Precision Industry)在大陆的子公司富士康又一名员工死亡，不仅让人关注其大陆工厂的工作条件，也有可能引发人们对苹果(Apple)和惠普(Hewlett-Packard)等出售鸿海所制产品的美国公司的担忧。

中国官方媒体新华社报道，周二，富士康一名员工从该公司深圳工厂的一幢大楼坠落后身亡。在此之前，今年还有其他多名富士康员工坠楼事件。多数被认定为自杀，不过最近的这起死亡事件和其他几起还没有被定性。

富士康员工接连发生自杀事件的原因难以确定。从统计学意义上来看，考虑到它的员工规模（在大陆雇有员工80万人，其中半数在深圳），自杀率并不算突出，而这一连串自杀事件在多大程度上源自其他连锁自杀事件中存在的效仿行为，或者说有没有别的原因，目前都还不清楚。


Associated Press 周二，在鸿海公司香港办公室附近，类似iPhone的纸卡片被烧毁。曾有批评者提出担心，即这家台资企业工厂的工作条件和时长，给多为年轻农民工的员工造成了太多压力。GlobalPost通讯社去年11月进行一项调查，揭露了一些消费电子产品供应商恶劣的员工工作条件。《华尔街日报》周一报道，鸿海董事长郭台铭本周早些时候为公司的做法进行了辩护，说它“肯定不是血汗工厂”。

苹果公司发言人陈玉丽(Jill Tan)周二说，我们肯定关注，但我们要强调，不管苹果的产品在哪里生产，苹果都致力于确保最高的社会责任标准。

苹果对总装制造商每年进行一次检查，以确定它们有没有违反苹果的供应商行为准则。在《2010年供应商责任报告》(2010 Supplier Responsibility Report)里，苹果发现它检查的102家工厂中有65%向员工按时足额发放工资和福利。但报告没有说鸿海是不是违反其行为准则的供应商之一。

惠普公司一位驻新加坡的发言人说，公司对供应商实施了高标准，确保员工获得尊严和尊重，此外公司还对有关供应商做法的担忧进行有力的调查。

一些劳工观察团体曾呼吁电子生产商对供应商的雇工行为采取一种更加积极的姿态。“跨国公司研究中心”(Center for Research on Multinational Corporations)上个月进行的一项研究发现，苹果等电子生产商的多数行为准则都不充分。研究还指出，虽然苹果对供应商一年进行一次检查，但它以签有保密协议为由，并不披露接受检查的是哪些供应商。