Apple production partner Foxconn has been tied to worker suicides in the past, but a new wrinkle emerged earlier this month. According to reports, a group of 300 Chinese employees building Xbox 360 game consoles threatened suicide by jumping off the roof of a factory.
According to an anti-government website, China Jasmine Revolution (relayed by Want China Times), the threat came Jan. 2 at Foxconn’s Wuhan site after the manufacturer denied the workers compensation promised earlier. The following night, the workers ended their mass suicide threat after the mayor of Wuhan got involved, reports say.
The website Kotaku.com explained that the reported suicide threat came after Foxconn told workers “they could either keep their jobs with no pay increase or quit and get compensation.” However, after most of the workers agreed to quit and receive payment, the manufacturer, which assembles products for Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, as well as Apple, reportedly reneged on the compensation agreement.
One side-effect of the suicide threat was a temporary suspension of Xbox 360 production, according to the Record China site.
