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According to news reports, a 28 year old Foxconn engineer named Yan Li died on May 27th after working 34 hours straight. Although the investigation is ongoing, the death is being attributed to exhaustion by Li’s family. Li’s wife is seen in the accompanying photo presenting documents to reporters related to her husband’s death. This comes around the same time that Apple CEO Steve Jobs opened up about the Foxconn suicides in an email exchange with MacStories reader Jay Yerex. In his reply to the initial email, Jobs stated “Although every suicide is tragic, Foxconn’s suicide rate is well below the China average. We are all over this.“
As the email exchange continued, Yerex noted confusion about the phrase “We are all over this”, and questioned Apple’s sense of social responsibility, to which Jobs replied: “You should educate yourself. We do more than any other company on the planet“ before referring to Apple’s webpage about supplier responsibility, which states:“We insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes.†Jobs then closed the email by clarifying his “We are all over this” statement: “It’s an American expression that means this has our full attention”.
Although Jobs’ references to China’s suicide rates can be interpreted as callous, the public outcry over this story will most likely force Apple to continuously pursue a solution which favors Foxconn workers, otherwise it may permanently ruin Apple’s reputation.
(via MacStories and M.I.C Gadget)
