Three suicides at Zhengzhou Foxconn in 20 days

Friday, May 17, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On May 14, another worker at Foxconn's factory in Zhengzhou jumped off a building to his death. This makes three workers from the same factory that have fatally jumped off of buildings in the span of the last 20 days. Based on information gained by China Labor Watch (CLW) as well as public reports, the following are the profiles of the three incidents (beginning with the most recent first):

1) May 14: 30-year old male worker from Henan jumps from the roof of a building. He was married with a five-year old son and had entered Foxconn at the end of April.

2) April 27: 23-year old female worker jumped off of the 12th floor of Fuxin Apartment Building Number Nine.

3) April 24: 24-year old male worker who began working at the factrory on April 22 jumped off of the Yukang dormitory building.

The reasons for these building jumpings are unclear. Some estimate them to be related to the new "silence mode" policy at Zhengzhou in which workers are purportedly threatened with termination if they talk on the job. One report said that the most recent suicide might have been associated with relationship problems.