Live data from Hacker News

Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

gadgettendency.com

261–267 of 267 posts

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your argument seriously that it’s unfair that women aren’t overworked in India

My argument is that it’s unfair that there’s one set of rules for men and one for women. “Overworked” is qualitative call. 4 days at 12 hours is what we are talking about here, which is not an uncommon labor structure in the west or east and has a lot of advantages to the worker. It’s not 12 hours a day 7 days a week. It’s 48 hours a week, a standard work week in India. Those shifts also pay better, and have more con…

I am not saying what should and shouldn't be done - your points about it being unequal between men and women is totally valid. I am simply saying that pretending that this isn't coercive labor is so silly - apple clearly wins out here in terms of benefits, and they are couching it in an equality argument when , in reality, their bottom line and labor allocation is all that matters to them.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That could be true, but America and Europe did the same thing before they got rich. Isn't it a bit hypocritical to wag our finger at developing countries now for doing the same thing that our countries did?

I think the mistake you're making is implying that bad working conditions are inherent to a poor nation, and good working conditions are inherent to a rich nation, so the ends (good working conditions in the future) justify the means (bad working conditions now). Might it be possible that america becoming rich and america getting better working conditions were not causally related? It seems to me that better working…

All countries that have gone through development started with bad conditions that got better, not just America. China is proof of that right now. You could just as easily condemn the people you would otherwise want to help to poverty instead.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#264
post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have 48 h weeks and the ability to add an extra 50 hours per month. There's a name for places with a 60 hour work week: they are called sweat shops.

Someone tell the people working at startups.

That's very different: startupers are generally capitalists, they either own the company or have vigorous stock compensation. They don't rent their work to scrape a meager existence, they compound their capital with the expectation of a large payoff and generally have the option of a job.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#265

My mom works 12 hour shifts as a CNC machinist in the United States. Is there some point to this article or is it just neat to know?

You might want to look into the overall workinig, compensation and living standards in these countries. Especially for the kinds of plants that Apple runs. And how they might be just a bit ...those of a skilled machinist in the U.S. That might have something to do with the article's point. And would be "neat" for you to know as well.

I will get my mom to send me a picture of the production floor of her factory, you get me a picture of an Indian Foxconn plant, and we will see how different they truly are.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize that prior to women entering the workforce a man, and his partner and three kids, working a full time factory job could lead a better lifestyle than two l5 engineers in CA can today, right?

You do realize that women did not have as much freedom under that arrangement? Also, the demand for living in California drastically increased relative to supply of housing, but that is a different point.

Are you seriously suggesting that in order for women to have personal autonomy the quality of life for everyone needs to decrease? Really ripped your mask off with this statement.

California housing is so fucked because of ladder pullers and obstructionists. That has nothing to do with women’s rights.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#267
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You see this in hospitals too and I believe the rational there is that you want to reduce the number of shift changes. In a manufacturing context where you might need to shut down the line in order to change shifts it might be a big money saver to only have to do that twice a day even if you're paying out overtime.

Except that rationale has time and time again shown itself to be horseshit, and doctors would be better off with more shifts (so they weren't overtired like half of their shift and therefore making mistakes) and better processes for hand offs.

I'm not talking about doctor's here there scheduling is basically hazing, I was talking about nurses where they have to do a complicated patient hand off every time the shift changes and each time they do it there is a chance some ball can drop. My kid has had some extended stays in the hospital, so I can say as somebody with skin in the game that 12 hour shifts for nurses have at least a plausible benefit.
Post reply on HN