On Monday Apple's primary manufacturing partner, Foxconn, disclosed the deaths of two workers from its Apple-oriented Zhengzhou factory, though there don't appear to be any immediate links to conditions at the plant.
The deaths took place last week, Reuters reported. A woman is said to have died in a train accident on her way to work, while a man's body was found outside a building in Zhengzhou. Foxconn said it's cooperating with authorities investigating the incidents.
While Foxconn's workforce can balloon to as much as 1.3 million during peak production times — now likely being one of them, given the anticipated launch of Apple's"iPhone 7" — such deaths are still rare and can raise concerns given Foxconn's history of worker suicides.
Between 2010 and 2011 a rash of suicides drew attention to poor labor conditions at the manufacturer, particularly low wages, extreme hours, and shoddy safety. Under scrutiny from activists and media, and accompanying pressure from the likes of Apple, conditions have improved somewhat.
Last year the death of another Foxconn Zhengzhou worker was described as a suicide by a labor rights group.
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