While much of the mainstream media portrays China’s rapid industrialisation as an investment bonanza, the reality for workers is one of harsh working conditions with low pay. A new report by a USA institute for human rights followed an investigation into an electronics factory, while a Chinese journalist enlisted as a trainee at the huge Foxconn factory to produce the new iPhones. These reports show once again the consequences of the unrelenting global ‘Race to the Bottom’ and the urgent need for workers to be able to organise independent trade unions as the only way to improve their conditions and pay.
While much of the mainstream media portrays China’s rapid industrialisation as an investment bonanza, the reality for workers is one of harsh working conditions with low pay. A new report by a USA institute for human rights followed an investigation into an electronics factory, while a Chinese journalist enlisted as a trainee at the huge Foxconn factory to produce the new iPhones. These reports show once again the consequences of the unrelenting global ‘Race to the Bottom’ and the urgent need for workers to be able to organise independent trade unions as the only way to improve their conditions and pay.
