Stabbing at Foxconn Leaves Worker Dead

A Foxconn worker named Ah Hao was stabbed to death by three other workers in a pool room near Foxconn’s Guanlan factory on August 17. His crime? Reading the newspaper.

It would be a ridiculous story if it weren’t so tragic. On August 15, Ah Hao was sitting in a recreation room at the plant, reading a copy of Foxconn People, the company’s internal newspaper. His coworker Wang Guang entered the room and asked him for the paper as no other copies were available. Ah Hao was still reading and refused. Wang then attempted to snatch the paper from him, and when that didn’t work, Wang kicked Ah Hao, and the two then began wrestling. Eventually, they were pulled apart by a coworker.

They were taken to their boss, who they told they were “just fooling around.” They were made to make up and shake hands. The next day, Ah Hao turned in a self-examining report on the incident. Wang Guang was meant to do the same, but didn’t.

Instead, Wang asked for the 17th off from work and began conspiring to pay back Ah Hao with two friends, his younger brother Wang Huai and another friend, Wang Er. They found Ah Hao that night around 7:30, shooting pool at the local pool hall. The three Wangs confronted him and demanded that he pay Wang Guang 500 RMB (about $78). Ah Hao refused, so Wang Guang and his brother took out knives they were carrying and stabbed him four times. They then fled the scene with Wang Er, who had not taken part in the stabbing. Paramedics were called to the scene but were unable to save Ah Hao, who died early the next morning.

The police have already captured Wang Guang, Wang Huai, and Wang Er, but Foxconn has also promised to help prevent future incidents like this. In response to the incident, the company announced it would print an additional 20,000 copies of the newspaper and distribute them to the Guanlan factory area.

Foxconn doesn’t have a great record of keeping employees safe. Between the suicides, the explosions, and the news that people will soon be replaced by robots, it’s hard to feel like the company is doing everything it can for its workers. But in this case, we think the Taiwanese manufacturer is probably not to blame; who could have guessed that a shortage of company newspapers would lead to a murder?

Still, perhaps instead of printing more newspapers, the company should take some steps to combat instances of bullying in the workplace.

[Source]