Microsoft is looking into a mass suicide threat at one of it’s large processing plants in China, after a string of threats over the past few years of other related companies due to the amount of pay the workers are receiving.
CNN has posted an article that states “Microsoft is investigating a report that workers at a Chinese plant …threatened mass suicide.” The workers at the plant make XBOX games and are in a dispute about pay. According to CNN, they have not “been able to confirm details of the dispute and Microsoft and Foxconn, the plant owner, did respond to inquiries.”
Microsoft made a statement saying that they take “working conditions in the factories that manufacture its products very seriously.” They are currently investigating the situation. A company named Foxconn has stated that there was an apparent protest in one of its factories that manufactures products for Apple and Microsoft, but that has long been over. Due to the high rate of suicides, the company decided to “pay twice at its factory in Shenzhen, China.”
Microsoft also said that they are “committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors and to ensuring conformance with Microsoft policy.” After the Foxconn 2010 suicides, special measures and rules have been made to prevent this sort of problem from happening again. They have invited Buddhist monks to come and help with spiritual consolation and have included a 24-hour “help” hotline for those in need.
According to CNN, Foxconn isone of the world’s top electronics manufacturers. Other than making products for Microsoft and apple, they also make products for companies such as Dell, Hewlett Packard and Sony. In October 2010, it had an estimated total of 800,000 employees.
