By Chris Chang, posted Mar 20, 2012 at 8:08 AM, 1,744 views,

Foxconn Workers See A Quarter Wiped Off Their Salary As Dormitory Rents Increase

According to a report from Guangzhou Daily, landlords in the area around the Foxconn factory has raised their rents, forcing Foxconn workers to pay at least 400 yuan ($63) a month in rent for a 10 square meter room.

We already knew working at Foxconn was akin to living in a dorm. Workers who live in the dorms sleep six to eight to a room, and pay about $17.50 a month rent. Below is a picture of the dorms where Foxconn workers can live at the factory.

And here’s a look at the Foxconn dorms in Zhengzhou,

And here are the infamous suicide nets.

A Foxconn worker can choose to live in the dorms outside the factory, but he/she has to pay more. However, in some cases, rents for the non-Foxconn dorms have nearly doubled over the past year. According to Guangzhou Daily, a junior level worker called Lin rented a 10 square meter room for 300 yuan ($47) per month in 2010. Today, Lin needs to pay 400 yuan ($63) per month now. And he thinks the raise is abnormal.

Another Foxconn worker called Zheng found that a 15 square meter room that rented for 300 RMB ($47) per month two years ago costs 500-600 RMB ($79-95) per month now.

Meanwhile, Foxconn workers are complaining the rent raises are unfair, and some of them conclude that their wages have increased by 20%, however, the rents have increased by 100%. Perhaps the reason why the landlords are renting out housing at high prices is that Foxconn has raised wages for its factory workers by 16% to 25%. The pay of a junior level worker now sits at 1,800 yuan ($285) per month, and can be raised a further 400 yuan, to 2,200 yuan ($349), if employees pass a technical examination. Thus, landlords have took advantage of workers’ pay rise to increase the rent.

Source: Guangzhou Daily