Xbox workers in China threatened mass suicide
'The reason you see these protests is because the employees feel they have no other option,' rights activist reportedly says
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
2012-01-12T
BEIJING — Dozens of workers assembling Xbox video game consoles climbed to a factory dormitory roof, and some threatened to jump to their deaths, in a dispute over jobs that was defused but highlights growing labor unrest as China's economy slows.
The dispute boiled over last week after contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group said it would close the production line for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 consoles at its plant in the central city of Wuhan and transfer some workers to other jobs, workers and Foxconn said Thursday.
Workers reached by telephone said Foxconn initially offered severance pay for those who wanted to leave rather than be transferred, but then reneged, angering the workers.
Foxconn said in a statement that transfers were offered, not severance, and only to some workers.
The workers climbed to the top of the six-story dormitory on Jan. 3 and threatened to jump before Wuhan city officials persuaded them to desist and return to work, according to the workers and accounts online.
200 involved?
The workers gave varying estimates of the numbers involved in the strike, from 80 to 200, and photos posted online showed dozens of people crowding the roof of the boxy concrete building.
Full story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45969515/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/
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