wfn.org | Perspectives: Christians and Foxconn

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3041 Edition

>June 7~June 13, 2010

>Perspectives: Christians and Foxconn

>Written by “Benla Kuang”

>Translated by Lydia Ma

After a string of employee suicides at Foxconn stunned the world,  Christians 
began a prayer

chain to intercede for all Foxconn employees. Some Christians also  visited 
Foxconn

employee dormitories to distribute gospel tracts, share  testimonies, and sing 
songs.

Foxconn leaders invited Changhua Christian Hospital and Mackay  Memorial 
Hospital

physicians and chaplains to visit its Shenzhen factory in China to  conduct 
counseling and

share the gospel. According to one report, Foxconn’s Chairman  Terry Guo was 
moved to

tears after hearing the chaplains’ sermons and said afterward  that he’d found 
hope and

>deliverance.

We cannot emphasize enough on the importance of Christians praying  and sharing 
the gospel

with Foxconn executives and employees and offering professional  counseling. 
But Christians

shouldn’t stop there – otherwise, what would distinguish  us from any other 
psychologist that

>Terry Guo would’ve hired?

The real issue here isn’t about helping abused and oppressed  people to handle 
pressure

better; rather, it’s about mourning with those who mourn and  shedding light on 
unacceptable

company policies that have oppressed employees to the breaking  point and 
correcting these

>policies.

Pressure might not have been the only factor pushing Foxconn  employees to jump 
from

buildings, for they could’ve chosen to simply resign from  their jobs. Factors 
such as living in a

cut-throat society and demands from greedy, capitalist countries  seeking to 
cut production

costs may have also played a part in pushing employees over the  edge. Some 
people have

cited Foxconn’s Spartan management and unreasonable work  shifts as factors 
because

these have prevented employees from having any kind of family life  and social 
life.

So, what can Christians do if they ever get a chance to meet  high-profile CEOs 
like Terry

Guo? We must keep reminding these people of influence that  building gyms or 
pools or hiring

psychologists aren’t enough if they don’t simultaneously  deal with unjust 
labor laws and

military-style management. We must warn them against solely  seeking 
profit-maximization.

What if you are a high-profile CEO? Then, besides offering  reasonable working 
conditions

you must also focus on your company’s responsibilities toward  society, 
including being aware

of whether your contractors or subsidiaries are abusing their  employees by 
turning their plants

into sweat shops and oppressing their workers to keep costs down.

A company’s positive social influence above and beyond its  prestige and image 
is often

understated. As a Christian entrepreneur, caring about one’s  own company’s 
social

responsibility isn’t only good Christian witness, but also  part of the job 
description. That is

probably why some labor groups have called on Cher Wang,  Chairwoman of HTC

Corporation, to assist in mediating a labor dispute involving  abuse between 
one of HTC’s

>suppliers and employees of that supplier.

Considering that most of us may never have a heart-to-heart with a  prominent 
CEO, much less

become a CEO ourselves, is there anything we can do beside prayer?  As workers, 
we can

stay informed about our basic labor rights and keep an eye on  whether there 
are cases of

abuse in our workplace. If we see injustices, we must wisely draw  attention to 
them for it’s the

>least we can do.

Support oppressed people, mourn with those who mourn, help to  solve labor 
disputes, and

alleviate pressure are only a few examples of things we can do in  our limited 
capacities. In the

face of oppression, it seems we can do much more besides prayer.

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