JennyChan.PhDThesis.2014.FINAL

and visual recording was not allowed, I wrote fieldnotes immediately following the
trials. Moreover, between 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, I conducted follow-up
interviews with worker activists involved in riots, strikes and/or protests at Foxconn
factories based in Shenzhen, Chengdu (provincial capital of Sichuan), Zhengzhou
(provincial capital of Henan), Wuhan (provincial capital of Hubei), and Taiyuan (a
fast-growing city in Shanxi). I paid attention to the causes of labor discontents and
the settlements and outcomes of the collective actions.
In addition to the key informants from the enterprise and vocational schools, I
interviewed six local government officials at Longhua town (Shenzhen) and
Hongguang and Pitong towns (both are in Chengdu) to better understand the
collaboration between business and local states. The officials shared with me policies
about employment and social services, economic development, labor recruitment, and
above all school-business joint educational programs. 57 Indeed, the provincial and
lower-level governments actively intervened in the labor market to facilitate
corporate expansion. At government buildings, administrators assisted walk-in job
applicants to prepare interviews at Foxconn and other private enterprises. Some
administrators also set up recruitment counters outside the Chengdu railway station
to help Foxconn’s hiring. Others issued directives to schools to fulfill internship
requirements at companies under their jurisdiction. Through a snowball sampling, I
had opportunities to talk to student interns, teachers, and managers who implemented
the internship plan at Foxconn factories.
Finally, on 16 December 2013, in my dual role as an independent researcher and a
nonprofit labor organization advisor, 58 I wrote to the chief executives of Foxconn
(Terry Gou) and Apple (Tim Cook) to express concerns about working hours, wages
and benefits, student interns, worker safety, and union organization at the
supplier-factory level. 59 On 31 December 2013, I received a reply from a Foxconn
representative, Dr. Martin Hsing, Executive Director of Global Social and
Environmental Responsibility Committee. 60 On 18 February 2014, I also heard from
Ms. Jacky Haynes, Senior Director of Apple’s Supplier Responsibility Program, 61
together with the enclosed 40-page 2014 Progress Report. In the following chapters I
present the company statements as appropriate.
57 Xiaoqi hezuo ( 校 企 合合 作 ).
58 That is, my advisory role with Hong Kong-based SACOM (Students and Scholars Against
Corporate Misbehavior).
59 Professors Pun Ngai and Mark Selden are co-researchers, whose deep engagement in Foxconn
labor research has had a lasting impact on my academic studies and outreach to the two companies.
60 The 7-page Foxconn statement (31 December 2013), in English, is on file.
61 The 1,500-word Apple response in email correspondence (18 February 2014) is on file.
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