Beijing, Aug 19 (IANS) Thousands of workers of electronic giant Foxconn took part in a rally to boost the morale of the employees of the firm which witnessed a spate of suicides by its workers at its south China plant.
The motivational rally titled ‘Love Your Life, Love Your Family’ was attended by 50,000 workers from the company’s plants across the country, including the main unit of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Xinhua reported.
The company, which manufactures products for top brands, including the Apple iPhones, came under fire after more than 10 workers committed suicide since 2009. The suicides were blamed on the company’s strict management.
Terry Cheng, vice president of the Foxconn Group, said Wednesday that the company will not leave Shenzhen City, where more than half of its 800,000 Mainland employees are located, rejecting speculation that Foxconn is moving its production unit to lower costs.
According to Cheng, Foxconn is ‘expanding’, rather than ‘moving’ its business to inland areas. However, the number of workers in Shenzhen would be reduced to 300,000 to 350,000 from the current 450,000.
A new Foxconn factory began production in central China’s Henan Province Aug 2. The company has opened plants in the inland regions of Hebei, Shanxi, Hubei and Chongqing. In July, it also invested in two factories in Sichuan province.
