Remember that little problem Foxconn had with all their employees committing suicide because of the abusive working conditions? Well, the whip crackers thought long and hard about it and concluded that the problem can be solved by adding a no-suicide clause to all of their contracts for employment. Genius! I believe that's checkmate, downtrodden.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/06/apple-foxconn-suicide-pact_n_858504.html

You cannot forbid someone's suicide in a contract. And more, it does not exclude responsibility for it, when it's cause by mistreatement, mobbing etc etc.

And, suicide caused by psychic compulsion and abuse is not something totally steered by your own will, if you know what i mean

If such provisions are legal in common law countries, I can see this as a fail of your legal system.

Oh man, this is so tragic that it's funny.
I also love Apple's reaction, which basically boils down to "Yeah the conditions are horrible, but they're trying to stop suicides with safety nets and they're cheap so it's all good."

They may also make a provision

"One shall not die until the age of 110" and it's worth the same as "no suicide" provision. To the terms of damages, too.

And maybe, such terms are lagal in China , dunno that.

Well, it's not at all fair to tie Apple into this. Foxconn is an enormous manufacturer of just about everything that goes into all makes of computers.

Since Chinese law, or the uselessness thereof, applies, Western notions of what you can or cannot require in a contract or at common law have no meaning.

Still, the pointy-hairedness at Foxconn is so toweringly appalling, that you have to wonder really hard about managers who think forbidding suicide solves any problem at all.

Maybe it solves the problem of damages in China.... and this is everything that Apple cares of. And this is just hilarious. I don't tihnk that EVEN IN CHINA you may sign an agreement which is binding to your family further actions, hahaha. And also, a term which forbids you taking ANY LEGAL action is illegal in most countries...

Is chinese law so absurd?

I said Apple has nothing to do with this, no more than Dell or Hewlett-Packard or any of Foxconn's other kajillion industrial and wholesale customers do.

(Not many people know just how huge Foxconn is. They're the world's largest electronics manufacturer, the largest private employer in China, and the largest exporter in China. Their $59 billion sales represent a whole 1% of the GDP of China, more than Microsoft, Dell, Apple, or the entire GDP of Croatia.)

Ah, China, you're such a fuck up in the world of human affairs that it astounds me you haven't marched your politicians out into the street and shot them.

Is this the part where we point out that the suicide rate over there is lower than in the USA ;) ?
People kill themselves; you can't really stop that. Asking them to legally promise not to do so is probably one of the more reasonable ways to influence that, assuming the person signing has a certain degree of respect for contracts...

And you REALLY think that respect to the agreements has ANYTHING to do with suicide commited by depression, lack os self-estime , cruel working conditions? When person's psychic cracks , no agreement really matters.

While I wasn't serious, I think honorable people do keep their promises. In this case it can be, of course, argued that they are somewhat forced into agreement (which means it's actually no agreement at all) but I do hold people who go through tough times yet keep their word in high regard.

I mostly agree with you, but I'm not sure that it's so much a respect for contracts as an understanding that not committing suicide is the honorable thing to do in a situation where suicide appears to be an option.

While the suicide rate in China is lower than in the US, it is still horrific (some three times the world average) and nothing like cause for pointless comparison. The clusters of suicides in factory compounds, as at Foxconn, are peculiar to China and point to a need for a solution that works for the Chinese, not one that Westerners would seek to impose on them.

Start with the asswipes here in the states, ie Apple corp.

It's a bit shocking, that.

However, suicide is also illegal in many countries.

Not to mention that it's considered a major sin in Catholicism.

Lots of people going the wrong way about trying to prevent suicide it seems.

I agree with all of the above, but if these corporations would just treat their workers with some respect they wouldn't need to inact assinine policys like this.