Quote:
Originally Posted by Fotoman
How very commendably corporate of them. And pardon me if I don't quite buy the "voluntary" nature of their extra hours...corporate culture being what it is...
I wouldn't exactly hold up US wages as the gold standard--especially not the wages in the "right to work" union-busting states... try Sweden, France, Canada... but no, they have a long way to go... a decent wage earned in a reasonable work week would do for a start... tiananmen's take on Foxconn wages and how far that stretches seems to be at odds with your take.... who to believe? Tiennenmen and the uninformed "journalist' with their evil anti-corporate agenda or you...hmmm...
That's not what I hear from those who left and came to Canada including my daughter-in-law and her family...your portrayal of their mood is very different from what I hear from those who left... perhaps it's just the malcontents who came here?
Pity? Anger and contempt for abusive governments and labour practices... not even close to pity. I've been representing workers for nearly 3 decades and pity has never been part of it. Assisting them in correcting the inherent power imbalance that exists in all workplaces--even here in the better western work environments--is never about pity. If you actually have respect for the workers you don't pity them, you just lend them your expertise and assist them as best you can.
I certainly don't speak for all Canadians nor do I hold myself as the definitive interpreter of Candian culture and conditions. I live here but so do millions of others with totally different perspectives. The same applies to you.
In this particular thread we have two of you who are close to the source... I think you know whose opinion I prefer  |
No problem with me. But it is very easy to confirm whose number is closer to reality. The RMB 900 or the RMB 2000+. And do you really think companies like Foxconn only want the absolutely lowest skilled workers? You can't get anyone to sweep your floor for RMB 900 per month anymore.
I am far from describing China as a workers' paradise, lol. I just wanted to point out the ridiculousness of the slavery/exploitation hype. Yes, many European countries have higher wages than the US. But don't forget that they not only pay 50% or more in income tax (often even the average income earners), 19% or more on sales tax, and other things. Besides, you have government set mimimum prices for things like butter, milk, and books. So in the end, people do not have more money in their pockets -- though they do have a lot more time on their hands. And don't forget that even German companies are only sustaining themselves through the EU market. In Asia, in the US they sell only about 8%. Many European companies are just not competitive.
This is a matter of a very different discussion (the chickens are coming home to roost in Europe as we speak), I was just comparing China to the more advanced countries.
As for immigrants, like your in-laws. Of course, they try to have a better life and going to Canada means they will be in a place right now where they would be in China only 15-20 years from now. Besides, I also know 10 Chinese families who went to Germany in the 1980s and they all went back in the last 5 years. None of them regretted it. Of course, let us not talk about personal freedom in China, the environment, the overcrowding, etc, etc. China is no paradise, definitely.
We were talking about working conditions. And while there are a lot of things wrong, things have improved much. And the big factories and their buyers can be credited with improving the lives of 100s of millions of people. Not that they are without fault and always doing well. Industrialization has brought a clear and sustainable path out of poverty for the masses in Asia. Does that mean things couldn't be better? No, but it means we do not have the "desperate masses of helpless slaves" anymore.