I wasn't going to talk about Foxconn again. But, after hearing what its owner, Terry Gou, said at its parent company's annual general meeting in Taipei this week, I had no choice. The company, hit by a string of staff suicides at its Shenzhen factory, increased pay by 30 per cent this month, and will raise it by a further 66 per cent by October at the earliest, bringing assembly-line workers' basic monthly salary to 2,000 yuan (HK$2,280).
Gou told shareholders that the company should not be blamed for the suicides and insisted that workers were treated well.
He pointed out that investigations showed there was no clear link between the deaths and work-related issues. There have been 10 suicide deaths at Foxconn this year, and two attempted suicides. Gou argued that if there had been any wrongdoing by his company, the central government would have shut down the factory, and reiterated that its management was sound and legal.
He recognised that the firm might have to shoulder some moral responsibility, saying he had to carry the '12 crosses', referring to the 10 deaths and two attempted suicides. He admitted that many employees worked long hours, which might have caused a great deal of job stress, but pointed out that it was mostly their choice.
He told shareholders the company would stop paying compensation to families of employees who committed suicide, as a move to discourage future attempts. Gou reasoned that the huge payout, equivalent to almost 10 years' wages, might have been an unintentional motivation for the suicides. He even displayed a suicide note from a worker to illustrate his point. He said the company would instead fund a loan scheme for staff. Those who have worked there a minimum of five years will be eligible to apply for a loan of up to 200,000 yuan from the company.
But the most absurd thing was his threat to relocate the manufacturing work to Taiwan after setting up a fully automated facility there. He also said the company might consider selling its staff dormitories to the mainland government and rent them from the government. Eventually, he said, the company would hand over the welfare management of its staff to local authorities because such social responsibility should be the job of the local government.