Foxconn Workers, Suicides and Human Rights
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Bearing in mind the working conditions of Foxconn workers, we discussed how to tackle a case study: Suicides in the Foxconn Company. We tried to see the ethical consequences of what is/was going on in the company that led to the numerous suicides in the workplace. The main issue in question is how the workers are considered. Are the human rights of those workers different from that of their employers? Is there a way of putting an end to ill-treatments on the workplace? Can a company boast of its glory when its workers are underprivileged?
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Solution Summary
The main moral issue involved here is the respect of the basic human rights that are rooted in human freedom and in justice.
Basic human rights
Such rights are the rights of every individual in the society and they are drawn on natural law and natural rights. Such rights do not differ with geography or history, culture or ideology, political or economic stature. In other words, both poor and rich, employers and employees, producers and consumers have them in equal measure. Human rights are therefore universal and they include the concept of individual liberty and freedom. As a matter of fact, the history of philosophy has proved that this modern concept of human rights has always existed through time. It can be traced as far back as during the era of the classical Greece and the ancient Rome.
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Foxconn Workers, Suicides and Human Rights
The Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), a Hong Kong-based organization, strive for labour rights in Mainland China. The association wants to ensure that the workers get a fair pay and a fair treatment based on their labour. Actually, SACOM is not the only organization worried about the treatment given to Chinese workers. We have a non-governmental Chinese New York-based international organization named Human Rights in China (HRIC), which promotes Chinese human rights both internationally and in China. Basically, the rights of Chinese workers are not only a national problem but also an international problem. Multinational companies hurry to China as the frontline for their investments, thereby taking advantage of the Chinese situation.
Foxconn Technology Group is one the companies that exploit its workers, as reported. The said Group is a subsidy of the Hon Hai Precision Industries Ltd. and it is among the world's leading electronic manufacturers. Unfortunately, this success is achieved at the expense of the lives of the company's employees. Seventeen workers between the age of 17 and 25 committed suicide within the first eight months of 2010. The suicide episodes are due to bad human management methodology adopted by the company: a) Low wage and excessive overtime working hours; b) The rule of absolute obedience without the possibility of dialogue; c) depressing working environments; d) Inhumane punishment for minor mistakes; e) Physical harassment and abuses from security guards; f) Social isolation even among workers in the same dormitory room.
The main moral issue involved here is the respect of the basic human rights that are rooted in human freedom and in justice.
Basic human rights
Such rights are the rights of every individual in the society and they are drawn on natural law and natural rights. Such rights do not differ with ...
Purchase this Solution
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