I find it despicable that somehow Mr. Watkins thinks that everything seems to be only a little bit less than normal in the Foxconn factories.
When you examine the opinions he has proposed, he says that the factories actually provide stronger income, expanded women's earning power and a place to work "inside" in opposition to workers' power.
Unlike Mr. Watkins, I have followed the Foxconn factories for the past year or so. They abuse their workers and when they try to strike or protest, their union representatives are given money under the table to shut up and calm down the workers.
Many workers have committed suicide by jumping off the buildings where they work, so much that they had to install safety nets so the workers couldn't kill themselves. The workers also do not get breaks for their 12-hour shifts that they work six to seven days a week. He even goes on to say that the Fair Labor Association can give a good answer to how bad things are. Yet, if he had done his research, he would have seen that major corporations such as Apple, Nike and Adidas fund the Fair Labor Association.
If someone gives you $1 million to inspect their factory, chances are you will not give them a bad report. This shows not only a major lack of research done on the part of Mr. Watkins but also an attitude in America that needs to change, and honestly, the rest of the world as well: the attitude that all jobs are good and that is all we should fight for.
These jobs do not provide workers power or income. Why do we have to fight for jobs anymore? Why aren't we fighting instead for good jobs, jobs that strongly support the rights of the workers?
I know many students who are from poorer backgrounds and have to work two to three jobs while going to college full time in order to get by. I know students who will not have jobs when they get out of college. Many people might use the excuse, "Well, we are going into business and marketing and accounting and things that will give us a greater opportunity." Yet what they don't understand is that a factory worker builds their car, a construction worker builds their houses, schools and offices, a farmer grows their food, a truck driver brings their resources and laborers make up the majority of society.
When you anger workers, they strike. The solution is not to create more jobs. The solution is to assist the workers who are downtrodden. This is something Mr. Watkins casts aside for the sake of good corporate operation, saying that Foxconn isn't that bad.
They are bad. They are terrible. They caused people to commit suicide. They treated their workers terribly. They were greedy, selfish and did not care about the workers in the factory.
This isn't a lone problem. This happens in America and Ohio as well. In the end, you can ignore the problem all you want, but remember who teaches your children. Remember who fixes your roads. Remember who makes your suit and your iPods. Remember who fixes your plumbing and your electricity. Remember who builds your buildings, pumps your gas and puts your food on the table.
It sure isn't the CEOs of those corporations.
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