The Labor Politics of Global Production: Foxconn, the State, and China’s ew Working Class Jenny Chan A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Royal Holloway, University of London Declaration of Authorship I, Jenny Chan, hereby declare that this doctoral dissertation is based on my research. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signature: Name: Chan Wai-ling (陳慧玲), Jenny Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii List of Illustrations iv 1 Introduction 1 2 The Labor Politics of Global Production 22 3 China’s Rise and Foxconn’s Empire 45 4 The Foxconn-Apple Connection 71 5 Inside Foxconn 98 6 Student Interns or Workers? 123 7 Living in the City 144 8 Legal Activisms: Taking Foxconn to Court 159 9 Worker Protests: Organizing on our Own 176 10 Conclusion 197 Appendix 1:Suicides at Foxconn in China, 2010 211 Appendix 2: List of Interviewees, 2010-2014 212 Appendix 3: Foxconn Locations around the World, 1974-2014 221 Select Bibliography 223 i Abstract The Taiwanese transnational corporation Foxconn Technology Group holds more than 50 percent of market share in global electronics manufacturing. Its 1.4 million employees in China far exceed its combined workforce in 28 other countries that comprise its global empire. This sociological research assesses the conditions of a new generation of Chinese workers on the basis of the intertwined policies and practices of Foxconn, international brands (notably Apple), and the local government, as well as the diverse forms of collective actions workers deploy to defend their rights and interests. The Chinese industrial working class, now composed primarily of young rural migrants and teenage student interns, is a result of actions by local officials to mobilize students as “interns” through vocational schools. This use of student labor helps fulfill corporate needs for short-term labor at times of peak demand, circumventing the law, and dragging down social and economic standards. My fieldwork documents for contemporary China the ways in which the integration of the electronics manufacturing industry in global supply chains has intensified labor conflicts and class antagonism. Within the tight delivery deadlines, some Foxconn workers leveraged their power to disrupt production to demand higher pay and better conditions. While all of these labor struggles were short-lived and limited in scope to a single factory, protestors exposed the injustice of “iSlavery,” garnering wide media attention and civil society support. Contradictions of state-labor-capital relations, however, remain sharp. In the contentious authoritarian system, notwithstanding the resilience of the Chinese state in the face of sustained popular unrest over the last two decades, my ethnographic study highlights the unstable nature of precarious labor in its hundreds of millions. (272 words) ii Acknowledgements Professors Chris Smith and Jos Gamble have shown intelligent interest in my research. Their guidance and exceptional patience have helped bring this thesis to completion. I would also like to thank Professors Jackie Sheehan, Tim Pringle, and Robert Fitzgerald for their willingness and valuable time to serve on my thesis committee. Encouragement from Professors Jeffrey Unerman, Christopher Napier, Gillian Symon, Neil Conway, Brendan McSweeney, Catherine Wang, Endrit Kromidha, as well as administrators Joanne Barrs, Julia Charlton, Jackie Brackenbury, and Emma McMahon are most appreciated. Chinese workers have been actively involved in this multi-year study. I am very grateful for the trust and confidence of Foxconn employees who share the conviction that this product of research and writing could potentially contribute to the betterment of working lives in global high-tech factories. Professors Pun Ngai and Mark Selden, among many others, have initiated transnational labor projects and anti-sweatshop campaigns. Through face to face meetings, video calls, and emails we exchanged numerous ideas about a forthcoming book. As we were finishing it, we joked that we, too, were working as “iSlaves.” True, but more to the point, we had joyful experiences of mutual learning and a sense of accomplishment, as well as many productive struggles, in our team work. Friends of the Hong Kong-based labor rights group SACOM (Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior), particularly Debby, Yiyi, Parry, Ken, Vivien, Sophia, YC, Mei, Suetwah, Kiki, Yunxue, Kwan, Alexandra, and Jack Lin-chuan Qiu provided me with great comfort during the difficult times. Together we have responded to a worker’s challenge: “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you’ve come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” In the four years I have been working on this research, I acknowledge generous scholarships and funding support from University of London, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the Great Britain-China Centre. For his good advice and practical assistance throughout this long journey, I specially thank Jeff Hermanson. Last but not least, I wish to express my love and heartfelt gratitude to my parents, sister, and brothers. Their personal care has enriched and continues to enrich my life. iii List of Illustrations Map 3.1 Foxconn’s Locations in Greater China 60 Tables 3.1 China’s Minimum Wages in 12 Cities, 2009-2013 50 4.1 Apple’s Revenues by Product, 2011-2013 76 4.2 Apple’s Revenues by Operating Segment, 2011-2013 77 6.1 Government Recruitment for Foxconn, 2010 135 Figures 3.1 Foxconn Employees and Revenues, 1996-2013 59 4.1 Distribution of Value for the iPhone, 2010 78 4.2 Distribution of Value for the iPad, 2010 80 4.3 Operating Margins: Apple and Foxconn Compared, 2007-2012 84 5.1 Foxconn Floor Plan (Shenzhen Longhua) 100 5.2 Foxconn Management Hierarchy 113 6.1 Foxconn Internship through Government and School Mobilization 138 8.1 Arbitrated Labor Disputes in China, 1996-2011 167 iv Chapter 1 Introduction To die is the only way to testify that we ever lived Perhaps for the Foxconn employees and employees like us we, who are called nongmingong ,1 rural migrant workers the use of death is simply to testify that we were ever alive at all and that while we lived, we had only despair. —An anonymous Chinese rural migrant worker 2 During 2010, 18 workers attempted suicide at Foxconn Technology Group’s facilities where Apple and other branded products are fine-tuned and assembled in China. They ranged in age from 17 to 25 — the prime of youth. Fourteen died, while four survived with crippling injuries (see Appendix 1 for a list of suicides at Taiwanese-owned Foxconn). These shocking events focused world attention on the manufacturing supply chains of China’s export industry and the experience of working within them. What had driven these young rural migrant workers to commit such a desperate act? After the spate of suicides, and facing a storm of public and international criticism, Foxconn strove to minimize reputational damage by claiming that the suicide rate at its plants was below the national rate of 23 per 100,000 people. 3 Liu Kun, the corporate public communications director, pointed out that Foxconn had “more than 1,000,000 employees in China alone [in 2010],” and that the reasons for suicides were multiple. The workers who attempted suicides suffered from individual psychological problems such as poor mental health, depression, distress over heavy debts, or family and other personal problems. “Given its size, the rate of self-killing at Foxconn is not necessarily far from China’s relatively high average,” reported The Guardian newspaper. 4 But it is impossible to ignore the fact that the suicides were by young people employed by a single company, the majority working in one industrial district of Shenzhen, on the northern border of Hong Kong. The Foxconn 1 Rural migrant workers ( nongmingong 農民工 or mingong 民工). 2 The blog post entitled “ Zhiyou siwang zhengming women cenjing huozhe ” ( 只有死亡証明我們曾 經活著) was removed three days after its first appearance online on 27 May 2010. 3 Michael R. Phillips, Xianyun Li and Yanping Zhang, 2002, “Suicide Rates in China, 1995-99,” The Lancet 359, pp. 835-40. 4 Jonathan Watts, 28 May 2010, “Foxconn Offers Pay Rises and Suicide Nets as Fears Grow Over Wave of Deaths,” The Guardian . http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/28/foxconn-plant-china-deaths-suicides 1 suicide cluster represents a phenomenon that has no precedent in China’s industrial history, and perhaps in that of any other country. 5 Foxconn hired western and Chinese psychologists and psychiatrists to defend it in the wake of the plague of worker suicides at the company. After “the 9 th Foxconn jumper” committed suicide on 11 May 2010 (seven had passed away since January), nine Chinese sociologists 6 formed an independent team to issue a public statement calling on Foxconn and the Chinese government to act decisively to end the tragic chain of suicides. It reads: From the moment they [the new generation of migrant workers] step beyond the doors of their houses, they never think of going back to farming like their parents. In this sense, they see no other option when they enter the city to work. The moment they see there is little possibility of building a home in the city through hard work, the very meaning of their work collapses. The path ahead is blocked, and the road to retreat is closed. Trapped in this situation, the new generation of migrant workers faces a serious identity