BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:Indybay-18650829 SEQUENCE:18720386 CREATED:20100616T050300Z DESCRIPTION:A SF remembrance of the Foxconn workers who have committed suicide in Chinese factories will be held on June 17, 2010 at 5:30 PM in front of the San Francisco Apple store\n\n6/17 SF Vigil in Remembrance of Suicide Victims-International Call for Solidarity for Foxconn Workers\n\nCommunity Members Hold Vigil While Apple Consumers Wait in Line For Their "Deathpad"\n\nThurs, June 17 @ 5:30 pm\nApple Store in Union Square (Market and Stockton)\n\nBackground: CPA will organize a vigil for China workers at Foxconn, the Apple manufacturer where 13 young migrant workers have attempted suicide, 10 have died while 3 remain in critical condition. A worker has also died of extreme exhaustion after working a 34 hrs shift. This exploitation is a global worker struggles and we want to draw attention for US consumers and workers to show how vicious corporate globalization and exploitation is to workers and poor people across the world. We invite all our worker center, labor and community allies to come and show support and solidarity.\n\nWhat is the true cost of an iPad? Foxconn workers face horrible conditions where employees are expected to work for 10 hours/day for 28 days straight. Since the base salary of $132 per month is insufficient to cover basic living expenses, workers have no choice but to work massive amounts of overtime to support themselves and their families.\n\nApple's solution? As Apple is about to release their new iPhone, Steve Jobs has responded that Foxconn is not a sweatshop and that workers “have it good” and claim that workers had individual mental issues. They have installed nets under the windows so that people cannot commit suicide and they have hired security guards to monitor workers. With the recent international pressure, they have doubled wages BUT have not seriously reconsidered their business model of massive production under unrealistic deadlines, forcing workers to work overtime, some up to 34 hour shifts!\n\nFonconn has over 800,000 workers in China and manufacture products for Apple, Dell, Windows, PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, Motorola, Intel and Hewlett Packard users. Apple is one of the largest electronics manufacturers located in China.\n\nPlease come out Thursday in solidarity with the Foxconn workers!\n\nClick here for more info on the International Campaign\n\nClick here for the Open letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs\n\nClick here to Sign the Petition to Stand with Foxconn workers\n\n--------------\n \nAlex T. Tom\nExecutive Director\nChinese Progressive Association\n1042 Grant Avenue, 5th Floor\nSan Francisco, CA, 94133\nPhone: 415-391-6986 x 310\nFax: 415-391-6987\nwww.cpasf.org\nAppeal by concerned international scholars: Create humane labor standards at Foxconn\nhttp://sacom.hk/archives/649\nAPPEAL BY CONCERNED INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS: CREATE HUMANE LABOR STANDARDS AT FOXCONN\n\nAppeal by concerned international scholars:\nCreate humane labor standards at Foxconn\nand end “stealth manufacturing” in Information Technology!\nJune 8, 2010\nThe tragic series of suicides among young workers of the “Foxconn City” factory compound in Shenzhen, China, has alarmed the world. Until now, only few people knew that this is the largest electronics factory in the world, employing more than 300,000 workers. The factory is run by a large multinational company from Taiwan, Foxconn (a subsidiary of Hon Hai group), which is one of the largest electronics manufacturing companies in the world. It produces for the most famous brand names in the global IT industry such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Nokia or Sony. Since contract manufacturers like Foxconn and their global customers try to keep their manufacturing operations hidden, this system has correctly been labelled “stealth manufacturing”.\n\nMost of the workers in electronics contract manufacturing and its preferred “low-cost locations” in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico, Hungary and other countries in Eastern Europe earn wages below the prevailing national standards. They work in clean and modern factories, but their work is reminiscent of the assembly lines of the early ages of mass production. The workforce of the new factories is made up of rural migrants, most of them women. As global contract manufacturing has grown, labor standards have collapsed and trade unions have been marginalized.\n\nIn reaction to the tragic events at Foxconn, a group of nine Chinese sociologists from leading universities in the country have taken the unusual step of issuing a collective appeal. According to their opinion, the crisis at Foxconn reveals deep-ranging problems in China’s current model of economic development, based on low wages, long working hours, and discrimination against rural migrant workers. They challenge the factory regime at Foxconn and call on the Chinese national and local government and the concerned enterprises to allow migrant workers to become “true citizens of the enterprise”.\n\nFrom an international point of view, we have to call for rigorous action from multiple parties to establish labor standards, occupational and environmental health, and workers’ dignity in manufacturing world-wide, particularly in supplier manufacturing factories. The noted British business journal The Economist is aptly stating that “a firm and an industry that has become accustomed to obscurity will have to get used to the limelight” (May 29, 2010).\n\nChanges in the labor policies of the contract manufacturing sector must be based on a comprehensive effort to restore transparency and public scrutiny over the contract relations between brand name and contract manufacturing companies. Meticulous attention needs to be devoted to labor, health and environmental standards, as well as to democratic participation of workers at the workplace. The so-called “Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC)” – a code of conduct and mechanism of consultation established by major IT companies – has failed completely to secure basic standards of work, environmental justice and social responsibility throughout the electronics industry and its “supply chains”.\nWorkers must have a right to:\n\n\nRepresentation and collective bargaining by trade unions to defend their interests and rights.\nInformation about, and protection from, hazardous materials used in manufacturing.\nGuarantees of working hours and work intensity that will not threaten physical or mental health.\n\nCommunities, government agencies, and the public have a right to know:\nWhat are the working conditions in contract factories and whether the basic rights of workers are respected?\nWhat hazardous materials are used in manufacturing and whether the manufacturing process complies with internationally accepted standards of occupational safety and health?\nWhere, by whom, and under which conditions brand name products are manufactured?\nWhat are the financial and economic conditions of manufacturing contracts between brand names and their suppliers, and whether suppliers and manufacturers are squeezed?\nWhat impact corporate decisions on the allocation of manufacturing contracts, downsizing and closings of factories, and the establishment of new manufacturing facilities have on communities?\n\nIn the light of these urgent questions, we call on the relevant companies and government agencies in China and internationally to support an independent international investigation of the economic, financial and social backgrounds of the tragic events at Foxconn. Such an investigation should be led by the International Labour Organization with participation from independent academic experts, trade unions, labor and environmental NGOs, and other organizations with relevant expertise in the field, excluding those who are linked to corporate interests or have received substantial funding from the affected corporations in recent years.\n\nSIGNATORS: (list in formation)\nAmanda Bell, Columbia University - USA\nAndre Laliberte, University of Ottawa – Canada\nAndrew Ross, New York University - USA\nAndrew Watterson, University of Stirling - Scotland\nAndy Danford, University of Bristol - UK\nAnita Chan, University of Technology, Sydney - Australia\nAnthony Spires, Chinese University of Hong Kong - Hong Kong\nBarbary Schulte, Lund University – Sweden\nBarry Sautman, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Hong Kong\nBoy Luethje, University of Frankfurt - Germany\nBrendan Smith, University of California, Los Angeles - USA\nCarolyn Cartier, University of Technology, Sydney - Australia\nCatia Gregoratti, Lund University, Sweden\nChad Raphael, Santa Clara University - USA\nChi-Kwan Ho, Hong Kong Polytechnic University – Hong Kong\nChing-Kwan Lee, University of California, Los Angeles – US\nChris Smith, Royal Holloway, University of London – UK\nChris Tilly, University of Caluifornia Los Angeles - USA\nChristine Cooper, University of Strathclyde, Scotland – UK\nChristoph Scherrer, Univ of Kassel - Germany\nDaniel You-Ren Yang, Tung Hai University – Taiwan\nDara O’Rourke, University of California, Berkeley – USA\nDavid Bensman, Rutgers University – USA\nDavid Foust Rodríguez, Universidad de Guadalajara - Mexico\nDavid Harvey, City University of New York – USA\nDavid Kotz, University of Massachusetts Amherst – USA\nDorothy J. Solinger-University of California, Irvine – USA\nEdna Bonacich, University of California, Riverside – USA\nEileen Boris, University of California, Santa Barbara - USA\nElaine Bernard, Harvard University - USA\nEli Friedman, University of California, Berkeley - USA\nEllen David Friedman, Sun Yat-Sen University - PRC\nFrancesca Degiuli, City University of New York - US\nFred Y. L. Chiu, Academia Sinica - Taiwan\nGreg King (emeritus), Tokai Gakuen, Nagoya – Japan\nGregor Benton, University of Malaya – Malaysia\nGregor Gall, University of Hertfordshire – UK\nGregory Mantsios, City University of New York - USA\nGyoergy Szell, Univ of Osnabrück - Germany\n\nHai-Rong Yan, Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Hong Kong\nHong-Zen Wang, National Sun Yat-sen University - Taiwan\nHoren Voskeritsian, Athens University of Economics and Business - Greece\nHsin-Hsing Chen, Shih-Hsin University - Taiwan\nIan Fitzgerald, Northumbria University – UK\nJenny Wai-Ling Chan, Royal Holloway, University of London – UK\nJinn-Yuh Hsu, National Taiwan University – Taiwan\nJoce Jesson, University of Auckland – New Zealand\nJohn Trumpbour, Harvard University - USA\nKate Bronfenbrenner, Cornell University – USA\nKatie Quan, University of California, Berkeley - USA\nKen Jacobs, University of California, Berkeley – USA\nKent Wong, UCLA Labor Center – USA\nKim Moody, University of Hertfordshire – UK\nKing-Chi Chan, City University of Hong Kong - Hong Kong\nKitty Krupat, City University of New York – USA\nLina Isacs, Stockholm University – Sweden\nLoong Wong, University of Canberra – Australia\nMarc Blecher, Oberlin College – USA\nMarcos Ancelovici, McGill University – Canada\nMaría Guadalupe López Pedroza- Universidade de Guadalajara - Mexico\nMartina Sproll, University of Marburg – Germany\nMeei-Shia Chen, National Cheng Kung University - Taiwan\nMichael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley – USA\nMichael Fichter, Free University Berlin - Germany\nMichael Gillan, University of Western Australia - Australia\nMichael H. Belzer, Wayne State University - USA\nMichael Rafferty, University of Technology, Sydney - Australia\nMobo Gao, University of Adelaide - Australia\nNancy MacLean, Northwestern University - USA\nNelson Lichtenstein, University of California, Santa Barbara - USA\nNgai Pun, Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Hong Kong\nNicola Phillips, University of Manchester – UK\nParry Pak-Nang Leung, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Hong Kong\nPeter Evans, University of California, Berkeley - USA\nPhil Taylor, University of Strathclyde - UK\nRalph Litzinger, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University – USA\nRasmus Larsen, Stockholm University – Sweden\nRichard Appelbaum, University of California, Santa Barbara - USA\nRichard Walker, University of California, Berkeley - USA\nRobert Ross, Clark University - USA\nRosemary Webb, Southern Cross University, Australia\nRussell C. Leong, University of California, Los Angeles - USA\nRuth Milkman, University of California, Los Angeles – USA\nSandra Sturdevant, University of California, Santa Cruz - USA\nSaul Thomas, University of Chicago – USA\nSaundra Sturdevant, Documentary Photographer & Historian – USA\nSimon Clarke, University of Warwick - UK\nStephanie Luce, City University of New York - USA\nStephen Philion, St. Cloud State University - USA\nSteve Davies, Cardiff University – UK\nSteve French, Keele University – UK\nSun Wook Chung, Cornell University - UN\nTim Pringle, University of Warwick – UK\nTimothy Cheek, University of British Columbia – Canada\nToby Miller, University of California, Riverside – USA\nTze-Ken Yau, City University of Hong Kong - Hong Kong\nWan-Wen Chu, Academia Sinica – Taiwan\nWilhelm Schumm, University of Frankfurt - Germany\nXiao-Dan Zhang, City University of New York – USA\nYi Xu, Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Hong Kong\nYu Zheng, Royal Holloway, University of London – UK\nYun-Chung Chen, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Hong Kong\n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/06/15/18650829.php SUMMARY:SF Vigil in Remembrance of Suicide Victims-International Call for Solidarity for Foxconn LOCATION:Apple Store in Union Square (Market and Stockton) URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/06/15/18650829.php DTSTART:20100618T003000Z DTEND:20100618T023000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR