Two new reports allege that Chinese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, the maker of Apple's iPhone, has not improved conditions for its workers after a rash of suicides.
One report was based on interviews with more than 1,700 workers by 20 universities in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. It criticized the company for long working hours, a "militaristic" work culture and mass employment of low-wage vocational college students.
A second report was released by a rights group called Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior. It said interviews with 100 workers showed that the company had not kept its promise to raise wages by up to 66 percent in October to about $300 a month.
Foxconn Technology Group dismissed what it said were "unsubstantiated allegations." The company said it "strongly and categorically rejects" reports of worker abuse and unsafe working conditions.
The company makes Apple iPhones and products for such other major companies as Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
Last summer, it promised various worker reforms and higher pay after 11 of its workers committed suicide this year. Ten of the suicides occurred at the company's facility in the southern city of Shenzen. All of the workers were described as young, migrant workers from China's impoverished western hinterlands.
Foxconn chairman Terry Gou denied the suicides were work-related. Chinese state media in June quoted Foxconn officials as saying they had solid evidence that some of the workers killed themselves for the financial payoff for their surviving relatives.
The company has since said it will no longer offer financial compensation to families of workers who kill themselves.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
