GEO Opposes The Grainger Engineering Hall of Fame award to Sidney Lu
The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) Local 6300 opposes the selection of Sidney Lu, the founding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Foxconn, as a Grainger Engineering Hall of Fame awardee.
His company is well known as one of Apple’s major suppliers and a globally recognized electronics manufacturer. Meanwhile, it is also known in Asia and worldwide for its harsh working conditions and for exploiting assembly line workers. Foxconn operates a vast network of manufacturing facilities around the world, strategically locating its factories to minimize production costs and meet the demands of global supply chains. While its largest and most well-known plants are in mainland China, the company has also expanded to countries such as Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Brazil, Mexico, the Czech Republic, and the United States. In Foxconn’s factories, assembly line workers often face intense pressure and grueling work schedules. Many employees are required to stand for long hours performing repetitive tasks with strict time quotas and limited breaks. Production peaks can lead to mandatory overtime, sometimes extending factory shifts to 10–12 hours a day, six days a week. Workers typically live in crowded dormitories on company grounds, which blurs the boundaries between work and personal life. Management closely monitors productivity, and speaking, slowing down, or making mistakes on the line can result in reprimands or wage deductions. Over the years, these conditions have drawn widespread criticism, as they exemplify a broader pattern of labor exploitation in global electronics supply chains.
In 2010, eighteen young, rural migrant workers in China attempted suicide at Foxconn facilities; fourteen died, while four survived with crippling injuries, largely due to the extreme pressure, harsh working conditions, low income, and lack of social support they faced. Foxconn first responded by requiring workers to sign a waiver agreeing not to hold the company liable for death by suicide. After facing backlash, Foxconn withdrew the waivers and instead installed suicide safety nets. Despite these lackluster measures, employees continue to face a highly pressurized work environment and strict control over their daily lives. In the following decade, smaller-scale strikes and protests continued to occur at Foxconn factories, but they were seldom reported publicly and rarely received attention.
In 2022 and 2023, due to the COVID-19 lockdown, high production demands for iPhone 14, and the shortages of basic daily necessities in the dormitories, Foxconn workers in Zhengzhou attempted to break through multiple layers of lockdown controls to escape the factory. The company chose not to listen to workers’ needs but imposed even stricter measures to control workers, leaving them with almost no personal freedom. Violent clashes soon broke out. Workers took to the streets to protest, but the demonstrations were suppressed by state security forces within a few days. After the incident, Foxconn did not issue an apology for the management practices that had endangered workers’ safety and health, nor did it fully deliver the wage bonuses and subsidies that had been promised during recruitment.
Countless cases demonstrate that Foxconn has consistently prioritized economic profit while neglecting the rights and well-being of its workers. The executives who have benefited from this system of exploitation must bear responsibility for it. Yet Grainger College has chosen to grant Sidney Lu an honorary recognition, disregarding the fact that his success has been built upon factories run through intense labor extraction and harsh working conditions. The Mechanical Engineering (MechSE) department works hard to foster a learning environment grounded in respect and equity. However, the evidence shows that Sidney Lu’s time in MechSE did not cultivate empathy, nor did it teach him to uphold basic human rights—values that are widely embraced by his peers and fellow alumni. Honoring him with the Grainger Engineering Hall of Fame sends a harmful message to students: that those who disregard others and pursue efficiency at any cost can still be celebrated and widely praised.
GEO Local 6300 calls on Grainger College to reverse their decision to honor Sidney Lu in their Hall of Fame. We stand with Foxconn workers around the world in their struggle for freedom from exploitation and for safe, dignified working conditions.