As aforementioned, since June 1, 2010, the day when Terry Guo announced a wage
increase by 30%, the focus of the whole event suddenly shifted to economic aspect, mainly on the “Foxconn Repercussion” about how Taiwan-based enterprises and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) could be influenced by the wage increase.
Topics of articles published before and after June 1 showed great divergence.
It seemed that these economic discussions tended to develop themselves to cover more than just the case in Foxconn, but to include China’s overall business environment as well. However, no matter how the coverage content had changed, employers were found to dominate the discourses in this frame throughout the incident, while workers appeared to be in a rather disadvantageous position.
Worker
Workers appeared to account for a very limited portion in coverage throughout the incident. Before June 1, news subjects concerning workers fell on their expectation of wage increase with only one story published in China Times on May 27. Other than that, none was found during this period.
After June 1, workers in this period usually referred to those who strived for better wages through strikes. Workers usually appeared in strikes, protests or conflicts, to express their requests. In these articles, media quoted opinions from companies and scholars a lot to express their attitudes toward workers’ actions.
Mary Gallapher, a professor of Political Science at University of Michigan and an authority of Chinese labor problems, said that as Chinese economy has been promptly recovered, it leads to the shortage of labor in Guangdong. Such situation gives workers rooms to bargain. (United Daily- June 2, 2010)
美國密西根大學政治學教授、中國勞工問題權威蓋勒說，中國經濟 加速復甦，廣東勞工短缺，讓工人大膽向資方施壓。(聯合報，2010 年 6 月 2 日)
Foxconn Repercussion: Guangdong, Foshan and Honda Workers Strike Since Monday [i.e. June 6), a group of 2,000 workers held strikes for wage increases. Without any response from the management, workers planned to take to the streets, but were later blocked by riot police with conflicts.
(China Times- June 9, 2010)
富士康效應 廣東、佛山、本田零件廠罷工
從週一開始，就有二千名工人罷工，要求加薪，但因得不到廠方回 應，工人計畫上街遊行，在防暴警察阻擋下，與防暴警察衝突。(中國時 報，2010 年 6 月 9 日)
Wage Increase and Strikes Seriously Damage Labor-Management Relations in China
Strikes that appealed to pay raise not only increase the tension between labor and management, worsen the labor-management disputes, but also highlight the worries about social stability. Using strikes as a menacing measure for wage increase…is likely to cause the shortage of labor, opposite of labor and management, and other more serious effects.
While the series of strikes has not seen its end in the near future, local governments, including Shenzhan, Dongguan, Shanghai and Kunshan, all stay in alert. (China Times- June 10, 2010)
薪火燒 罷工潮 重創陸勞資關係
Scholars said that if the Chinese Communist government does not handle the labor movement well, it will become a time bomb, threatening its regime,
“even a single spark can burn the whole field.” This labor movement is getting serious enough to cause social instability. (Apple Daily- June 11, 2010)
學者表示，中共若無法妥善處理這波工潮，他將成為社會一顆定時
炸彈，威脅中共政權，「星星之火，可以燎原。」這一輪工潮越演越烈，
已影響社會的穩定。(蘋果日報，2010 年 6 月 11 日)
Wall Street Journal: Labor Takes Good Use of Laws
SEF (Straits Exchange Foundation): China Does Not Take Sides with Management Anymore
Wall Street Journal said that Honda made concession to its workers, underlining the fact that organized labor has become a new challenge to foreign investors in the “world factory.” (United Daily- June 2, 2010) 華爾街日報：工人善用法律 海基會：大陸不再袒護資方
華爾街日報報導，本田此一讓步，突顯組織起來的勞工對「世界工 廠」內的外國投資者已形成新挑戰。(聯合報，2010 年 6 月 2 日)
Despite the limited coverage of workers in “economic consequence”, the four dailies described the series of strikes as “a time bomb that threatens Chinese government”
and the source of “the tension between labor and management, labor-management disputes, and the worries of social security.” They “request”, “protest” and “threaten”
by strikes, alerting the local governments. Yet, some also held positive attitudes towards this wave of strikes by noting these “organized labor who took good use of laws to challenge foreign investors.
Employers
Employer’s discourses seemed to dominate news in this frame. Before the wage increase announcement on June 1, when the dailies focused on the incident itself, articles drew upon the economic consequences that the incident brought to the
company, such as foreign investors trimming their holdings, the company’s decreasing stock prices, and the Cross-Strait economic relationship. The following headlines are telling.
Foxconn Suicide Jumps Bring Collapsing Stock Prices, Protests in Hong Kong Headquarter and Spread to iPhones (United Daily- May 26, 2010)
富士康、鴻海 股價挫 香港總部遭抗議 波及 iPhone (聯合報，2010 年 5 月 26 日)
Foxconn to Increase Wages by 20%
Corporations Lower Hong Hai’s Profits (Liberty Times- May 31, 2010)
富士康加薪兩成 法人調降鴻海獲利 (自由時報，2010 年 5 月 31 日)
TAO (PRC State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office): No Influence to Cross-Strait Exchanges (China Times- May 27, 2010)
國台辦：不影響兩岸交流 (中國時報，2010 年 5 月 27 日)
In addition to these topics, media also examined the relationship between the product’s profit and the worker’s salary, and presented it in great contrasts that workers were exploited, while employers had all the money.
A $499 iPad Costs only $11.2 for Processing Fee
The Most Money-making Product pays the Lowest Wages (China Times- May 28, 2010)
499 美元 iPad 中國組裝費僅 11.2 元 最賺錢的產品 給最低的工資
(中國時報，2010 年 5 月 28 日)
Generally speaking, most articles that targeted economic consequence as the main subject before June 1 paid more attention to how this suicide jumps incident
influenced the company in terms of business. Only one article from China Times went behind the scene to find out whether workers received a fair treatment in the deal with their employers. Using “the most profitable product” and “the lowest wages” as contrast, the rhetorical descriptions showed great irony.
After June 1, however, as Foxconn’s announcement of wage increase surprised the public, the four dailies started to shift their focus to discuss the policy and other economic consequences that might happen to Foxconn.
A finance law adviser in Straits Exchange Foundation said that as Chinese leaders have been proposing “decent work”, it is impossible for local governments to voice for employers once there are labor-management disputes.
(United Daily- June 6, 2010)
海基會一名財經法律顧問表示，大陸最高領導人都提出要讓勞工「體
面勞動」，因此現在一旦發生勞資糾紛，地方政府不太可能站在資方這邊。
(聯合報，2010 年 6 月 2 日)
Wages Increase by 66% in Foxconn Shenzhan Plant Hong Hai’s Profit May Be Cut
(Apple Daily- June 7, 2010)
富士康深圳廠再加薪逾 66% 鴻海獲利恐下修 (蘋果日報，2010 年 6 月 7 日)
Although the wage-raising policy may affect Hong Hai’s operation cost, Guo said that the influence is estimated to last for only three to nine months, instead of the whole year. As long as orders continue to come in during the second half of the year, the company should recover soon. (United Daily- June 9, 2010)
雖然加薪計畫恐影響鴻海營運成本，但郭台銘指出，影響只有三至 九個月，全年應可不受影響，明年下半年若接單持續旺盛，一定可以回復。
(聯合報，2010 年 6 月 9 日) Hong Hai Raises Wages
Foreign Investors Downplay Its Profits (Liberty Times- Sept. 6, 2010)
鴻海調薪 外資看衰獲利 (自由時報，2010 年 9 月 6 日)
Soon, the focus shifted to other Taiwan-based enterprises or OEMs in China to discuss how the “Foxconn Repercussion” influenced their business by:
Wage Increase Effect Brings Rising Labor Cost
… In addition, wage increase policy will lead to inflation in China, urging the government to appreciate Renminbi (RMB) to balance the pressure brought by inflation. (Liberty Times- June 3, 2010)
富士康、本田調薪效應 中國勞動成本蠢動
…此外，工資的成長也將推升國內通膨，增加官方升值人民幣來調 控通膨的壓力。(自由時報，2010 年 6 月 3 日)
Hong Hai refused to comment on the impact that the wage increase policy has brought to the cost. However, foreign corporations said with permissive attitude that the range of the increase is way too much, that it is
hard to estimate how the OEMs industry will be influenced. (Apple Daily- June 7, 2010)
對調薪對成本造成衝擊，鴻海不願評估，但外資法人紛搖頭，表示 此次調薪幅度太超過，對相關代工業衝擊難以估計。(蘋果日報，2010 年 6 月 7 日)
Foxconn Increases Salary Again, OEMs Feel Pressure (China Times- June 8, 2010)
富士康再加薪 代工廠成本加壓 (中國時報，2010 年 6 月 8 日)
Foxconn Increases Salary, Taiwan-based Factories
He [Kuo, Shan-huei, the president of Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland] said that when raising minimum salary,
enterprises should limit the raise rate to below 10%. The news spreading between the Chinese media and employees reported that recently factory operators discussed this matter a lot in private and the mind of people working in factoris has been disturbed. (China Times- June 8, 2010)
富士康頻頻調薪 台資工廠基層人心浮動
他[台企聯會長郭山輝]並認為，一般企業調漲工資，最好每年不要超 過 10%....經由大陸媒體及員工口耳相傳後，最近工廠內確實人心浮動，基 層作業員私下議論紛紛。(中國時報，2010 年 6 月 8 日)
Foxconn’s second time of salary adjustment has caused a chain
interaction in Shenzhen. Accoridng to a local online news report in China, a strike action also occurred last week in Merry Electronics (Shenzen), the manufcturer of cellphone components. However, after a consensus on a salary raise s was reached between the labors and the company, the strike ended therefore. (Apple Daily- June 8, 2010)
富士康 2 度調薪事件已在深圳當地引發效應，根據中國當地網路媒 體報導，手機零組件廠美律的深圳廠上周也發生罷工事件。不過，在資方 同意加薪後，罷工事件已落幕。(蘋果日報，2010 年 6 月 8 日)
Furthermore, discussion tended to extend to the possible influence of global economy.
As Salaries in China Rock, the Global Economy Stirred
A sharp raise in salaries enables the Chinese labor to share the
substantiality in this economy growth. Nevertheless, the current problem lies in whether salaries can be raised continually in China without interfering with the supply chain of global enterprises as well as any further investment made
by China or global enterpreses. (Liberty Times- May 31, 2010) 中國工資蠢動 全球經濟不安
中國工資快速上漲讓中國勞工得以分享經濟富裕的果實，但現在的 問題在於，中國能否持續調漲工資，而不會干擾全球企業的供應鏈，以及 不會妨礙中國或全球企業進一步的投資。(自由時報，2010 年 5 月 31 日)
New York Times Worries the Wage Increase Would Trigger Global Inflation A New York Times article, “As China’s Wages Rise, Export Price Could Follow”, worries that on China’s wage increase may influence global economy.
By then, the price of all made-in-China products will increase. (China Times- June 9, 2010)
紐時憂加薪潮 引發全球通膨
紐約時報昨刊出名為「中國薪資增加將導致出口價格變化」文章，
憂心大陸工資上漲，最後將反映到全球經濟，所有大陸製產品都將跟著價 格上揚。(中國時報，2010 年 6 月 9 日)
Salary Increase in World Factory Boosts Commodity Price
Although the salary for Chinese workers is still much lower than those in Western countries, economists indicated that the wage increase policy in China would eventually influence the global economy. Until then, price of all kinds of products, such as T-shirts, sneakers, computers, or cell phones, will go upward. (United Daily- June 9, 2010)
世界工廠加薪 助漲全球物價
雖然中國工人薪酬仍遠低於美歐，但經濟學家指出，中國工資的調 整終將波及全球經濟，屆時不論Ｔ恤、運動鞋、電腦或手機等各種產品價 格，均可能上揚。(聯合報，2010 年 6 月 9 日)
The Butterfly Effect: Foxconn Suicide Jumps Sway Global Economies The suicide, though seemed irrelevant to a raise in salaries, resembled a butterfly swinging its wings, which caught people’s attention to the butterfly effect that a new generation of labors in China emphasized. (United Daily- June 9, 2010)
be taken as a time divide in “economic consequence” category. Before June 1, media focused on how this suicide jumps incident influenced the company in terms of business. From articles published after June 1, it could be observed from the
descriptions that the four Taiwanese dailies were holding a negative attitude toward the wage increase. For Foxconn, the policy would “damage its gross.” For OEMs in China, the wage increase caused “inflation”, “pressure”, “management crisis”, and
“inestimable loss.” It was “too harsh.” Furthermore, the policy would push the surge of product price and break in the global supply chain. It was even compared to the
“butterfly effect,” whose small movements were likely to “influence the global economy.”