Chinese workers put priority on better pay, bonuses

Beijing:  Foxconn Technology Group workers would rather boost their salaries, bonuses and training before cutting hours or improving conditions, according to an audit of Apple Inc.'s biggest manufacturer.

Current wages aren't sufficient to cover "basic needs", 64 per cent of the more than 35,000 employees surveyed at three Foxconn plants by the Fair Labor Association (FLA) said. When asked which changes they'd make first, 60 per cent said they would raise salaries and 42 per cent said they would increase bonuses or living allowances.

The average worker is 23 years old and is paid 2,536.85 yuan (Dh1,480) a month, the FLA survey found. When asked if they would change working hours and overtime, 72 per cent said no. The association said long working hours were among the "most pressing problems," while acknowledging that employees volunteered for extra time to earn more money.

"They've been exceeding the overtime limits," FLA president Auret van Heerden said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "They exceeded Apple's limits and those of Chinese labour law. This is the key finding, and the key remedial proposal: to get Foxconn down to 49 hours a week, which is the legal limit."

When asked their opinions about working hours, 48 per cent said they were reasonable, 34 per cent said they'd like to work more to increase pay and 18 per cent said their hours were too long.

Don't need more rest days

About 91 per cent said there was no need for more rest days, and 94 per cent saw no need to change shift arrangements.

FLA inspectors found at least 50 breaches of Chin-ese regulations as well as the code of conduct Apple signed when it joined the association in January after deaths of workers at suppliers, the monitoring group said.

Foxconn said it will bring hours in line with legal limits by July 2013 and compensate its more than 1.2 million employees for overtime lost because of the shorter work week.

"We are committed to work with Apple to carry out the remediation programme," Foxconn said in a statement. "Our employees are our greatest asset and we are fully committed to ensuring that they have a safe, satisfactory and healthy working environment."

The survey found that 20 per cent of workers wanted more training and 15 per cent wanted a greater voice in factory decisions.

Housing subsidy

About 53 per cent of the workers surveyed said they don't live in company dormitories. About 29 per cent said they get a company housing subsidy they consider inadequate, and 20 per cent said they get no subsidy.

Concerning worker safety, 57 per cent of those surveyed said they had never experienced or witnessed an accident. When asked if safe, healthy working conditions were a reason to stay at Foxconn, 75 per cent said no.

Data on working hours to be released

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said last month that the company would start releasing data on working hours. In January, it found 84 per cent compliance with the 60-hour limit on working hours, based on data collected from 500,000 workers.

That rose to 89 per cent compliance in February, when workers averaged 48 hours per week even as the company ramped up production of the new iPad released this month.

The commitment to cut worker hours while keeping pay the same means Foxconn will need to recruit "tens of thousands of extra workers" in the next year, the association said in its report.