富士康要double工人薪水。

lite1067

Hon Hai Falls on Plan to Double Factory-Worker Wages (Update1)

June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the manufacturer of Apple Inc. iPhones, dropped to the lowest in nine months after the company said it will more than double base salaries at its Shenzhen factories over four months following a spate of suicides.

The stock fell 4.8 percent to NT$118.50 as of 9:04 a.m. in Taiwan, the lowest since Sept. 1, while the benchmark Taiex index fell 2.7 percent. Hon Hai has lost 22 percent this year.

Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, will boost monthly pay for most first-line workers, their line managers and supervisors to 2,000 yuan ($293) from 1,200 yuan effective Oct. 1, the Taipei-based company said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. On June 2 the manufacturer raised base pay from 900 yuan, effective immediately.

Hon Hai, which was criticized by labor groups for putting profit ahead of employee welfare after at least 10 workers committed suicide, joins Honda Motor Co. in boosting wages in China. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs last week said the suicides were “very troubling” and said his company is “all over” Hon Hai to resolve the issue.

Foxconn Technology Co., an affiliate of Hon Hai, which makes metal computer cases, dropped by its 7 percent limit to NT$106.50.

“The pay raise is even more than we would have expected; it’s crazy,” said Calvin Huang, who rates Hon Hai Precision “buy” at Daiwa Securities Group in Taipei. “Their clients must be required to absorb this too.”

Estimates Cut

Huang cut his six-month share price estimate for Hon Hai Precision to NT$144 from NT$180 after last week’s 30 percent pay increase was announced. Morgan Stanley lowered its estimate to NT$150 from NT$168 and kept an “overweight” rating following the earlier wage rise, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut it to NT$156 from NT$188 and kept a “buy” rating on the stock.

At least 10 workers have died from suicide, five during May, with three more attempts, according to Hon Hai. The deaths prompted Chairman Terry Gou to open factories to the media and apologize. “Many of these deaths have been linked to the horrible conditions at Foxconn facilities, where employees are expected to work for 10 hours per day,” New York-based China Labor Watch wrote in an e-mailed statement today.

Honda Motor

Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker, last week reached an agreement with most of the 1,900 employees at a Chinese parts factory to raise pay by 24 percent to 1,910 yuan after workers walked out May 17. The strike shut its car-assembly plants and stopped production.

Hon Hai spokesman Edmund Ding declined to comment on what effect the wage increases will have on the company’s earnings or clients. More than 400,000 workers will be affected by the pay raise with overtime hours worked by employees likely to decline after the higher wages are implemented, he said.

“This wage increase has been instituted to safeguard the dignity of workers, accelerate economic transformation, support Foxconn’s long-term objective of continued evolution from a manufacturing leader to a technology leader and to rally the best of our workforce,” Gou said in yesterday’s statement. “We recognize our responsibility as a global leader in electronics manufacturing, and take this responsibility very seriously.”

Three-Month Evaluation

David Shane, a spokesman for Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard declined in an e-mail message to comment. Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, and Jess Blackburn, a spokesman for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Inc., didn’t respond to e-mail or voicemail messages seeking comment Sunday.

The higher base wage will be effective after a worker passes a three-month evaluation period, Hon Hai said in its statement. Further pay raises for current line-leaders and supervisors will be determined by Aug. 1, while wage increases for factory workers in other parts of China will be determined according to local conditions and announced from July 1, it said.

“The company remains a typical sweatshop, as are all factories that overlook the basic needs of their workers for the sake of profit,” China Labor Watch wrote in a June 3 statement. Gou and Jobs have both denied Foxconn is a sweatshop.

源济

dividend_growth

好样的！

padme

ranchgirl

China raises worker salary already raised fear of world inflation.

cc2265

blackrock

这是好事。
一个问题，如果国内的民工工资能有这样幅度的增长，是不是人民币升值的压力就会减轻很多？甚至会有贬值的压力。

Kami

Yes, that is a better way to handle currency appreciation issue.  

这是好事。
一个问题，如果国内的民工工资能有这样幅度的增长，是不是人民币升值的压力就会减轻很多？甚至 ...
blackrock 发表于 2010-6-7 17:08

southware

阿斗

好！工资早该涨一涨了。