Foxconn staff in China get 66 percent pay hike

BEIJING - Electronic giant Foxconn has increased the monthly salaries of its workers in south China factory by 66 percent, raising their wages second time this year after a string of suicides by its employees.

From October, assembly workers at Shenzhen production base would get a pay rise of about 66 percent to bring salaries to 2,000 yuan (298.5 US dollars) per month, Xinhua quoted company spokesman Liu Kun as saying.

In June this year, Foxconn increased salaries by 30 percent, from 900 yuan to 1,200 yuan, for its Shenzhen employees.

“I cannot believe the company will raise salaries for a second time within a year. It means my monthly salary will double,” said Wang Xuchu, a Foxconn worker from the central Henan Province.

Foxconn, whose parent company is the Taiwan-based Hon Hai Group, makes computers, game consoles and mobile phones for companies such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Sony and Nokia.

A series of suicides at the company’s Shenzhen factory earlier this year prompted executives to improve conditions for workers, including hiking salaries and organising activities to boost their morale.