What stood out the most for me from yesterday’s class was the comparison of working conditions in the Foxconn factory to burger-flipping. Since I am evidently the only one in the class with prior experience in the “burger-flipping” industry (having worked at Wendy’s for two years in high school), I thought I would voice my opinion about this comparison.
In my opinion, Johnson has every right to compare the working conditions in the Foxconn factory to those of a fast-food restaurant. He mentions that working at such an eating establishment entails “repetitive, exhausting, and alienating” labor “over which [the employees] have no influence or authority.” That basically summarizes my experiences at Wendy’s. I was trained on all the positions, the most significant of which were the fry station, the grill, the sandwich station, the drive-thru, and the front counter. Believe me when I say that every position involved nothing but monotonous, tedious labor. Just imagine a seven-hour shift of standing at the grill station, incessantly throwing hamburger patties on the grill, and enduring the simmering heat that makes you perspire like a donkey in a sauna. Perhaps you would rather imagine standing in front of a cash register during the lunch rush and serving an enormous mob of impatient, disgruntled customers.
Let’s get one thing straight here: working at Wendy’s and working at the Foxconn factory are both nothing more than low-income corporate slavery. The conditions at both establishments are not exactly what one would call “pleasant.” However, my displeasing experiences at Wendy’s certainly did not justify something as drastic as suicide. If the conditions at a fast-food restaurant indeed mirror the conditions at the Foxconn factory, then I still can’t help but wonder why 17 workers would choose to take their own lives, just because they were subjected to a little menial labor. Other than the mundane routines that the workers are forced to follow and the less-than-ideal pay that they receive, it does not appear that the Foxconn working conditions are as unpleasant as we are originally led to believe.
I appreciate your experiences at Wendy’s, having worked at McDonald’s myself. I want to press you on this question of whether burger-flipping is an apt comparison to factory work in China. Ask yourself: all other things being equal, would you have been just as willing to work in a factory for two years as working at Wendy’s? Let’s even give you a 7-hour shift in the factory (versus the 10, 12, or 14 hour shift a Chinese worker might have). Would the experience be the same?