Foxconn chairman pledges to keep raising pay

Boao, China: Foxconn Technology Group will keep increasing worker salaries in China and cutting work hours, Chairman Terry Gou said on Sunday, after it came under fire for poor working conditions for employees making Apple iPhones and iPads.

Apple and Foxconn agreed last week to tackle violations of conditions among the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads in a landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business in China.

"We are a saying now in the company -- you work fewer hours, but get more pay," Gou told Reuters at the 2012 Boao Forum for Asia in China's Hainan island province. "We won't stop here and will continue to increase salaries."

According to the agreement reached with Apple, Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, whose subsidiary Hon Hai Precision Industry assembles Apple devices in factories in China, will hire tens of thousands of new workers, eliminate illegal overtime, improve safety protocols and upgrade housing and other amenities.

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The move is in response to the independent Fair Labor Association's findings of violations of labour law by Foxconn, such as letting long work hours and unpaid overtime. Foxconn now supplies 50 percent of the world's consumer electronics.

Global firms, such as Apple and Nike Inc , have been criticised for the labour conditions at China factories that make their products, with analysts and labour association calling them sweat shops due to low wages and tough working conditions.

Reuters