Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing titan troubled by a spate of suicides at its Shenzhen factory-city, held a rally for its workers who were given t-shirts, pom-pons, and—inexplicably—Spider-Man costumes.
Workers held signs showing Foxconn head hon-hai-cho Terry Gou holding a microphone, along with t-shirts that read "Eminu Campus wear We are always at diligent".
Workers were given costumes that ranged from more traditional Chinese outfits to superhero costumes. The rally is being billed as an attempt to raise flagging morale at the factory-city. Foxconn has nearly doubled workers' wages in recent weeks, although the company has denied that this has been in response to the suicides.
It's the Foxconn equivalent of a company picnic, held in the shadow of buildings now clad with suicide-preventing safety nets.
Foxconn is planning on hiring an additional 400,000 workers in China, bringing the total workforce up to 1.3 million people. Many of those workers will be employed at new factory-cities in Henan, Sichuan, and Hubei provinces.
The Taiwanese-based Foxconn produces electronics for most of the major consumer electronics companies, including Apple and H-P.
Images: (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)