Stefan Mileschin

Despite the fact that Apple and Foxconn have agreed a package of measures to stop Chinese workers killing themselves, one worker apparently did not get the memo that things were better.

In the first suicide since the glorious Apple pact, a worker at a Chinese plant jumped from his apartment.

Online in China, there were rumours that someone attempted to cover up the death. Chinese coppers ordered all eye witnesses at the Chengdu complex to delete all photos and videos. Those who did not were threatened with arrest. These rumours are unconfirmed and the Chengdu police did announce the death on its website.

Pictures were not deleted either. There is one circulating which shows the 23 year-old man before he jumped to his death.

The 23 year-old jumped to his death from his apartment which was located outside the plant in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

According to a statement by Foxconn, the worker had joined the company last month and police were investigating the death.

The agreement between Apple and Foxconn in March was supposed to improve conditions for the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads.

It was touted as a landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business in China.

Foxconn was to hire tens of thousands of new workers to reduce overtime work, improve safety protocols and upgrade housing and other amenities.

Foxconn also announced in mid-February it had raised wages for workers by 16 to 25 per cent.

But this latest death aside, there are signs that all are not well at the Foxconn plant. More than 1,000 workers from Foxconn's Chengdu plant rioted earlier this month apparently over a dispute over declining work time that is cutting into worker pay. It's believed that this week's suicide is somehow connected to this riot.

http://news.techeye.net/hardware/ano...n-death-occurs