TAIPEI -- Is Foxconn going to unionize?

That's the word from a Financial Times report issued Monday morning, which indicated the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer is considering allowing labor union elections at its factories in China.

The company heretofore has resisted any employee management of its labor unions, the paper said. Instead, local government officials and the company itself ran them.

In a departure from past practice, however, Foxconn reportedly said it would allow elections under which junior employees would be represented, with no management involvement. "The position of chairman and 20 committee members of the Foxconn Federation of Labor Unions Committee will be determined through elections once every five years through an anonymous ballot voting process," Foxconn told the Financial Times.

Foxconn is one of the world's largest private employers, with a workforce of 1.2 million in China alone. Among its companies is Zhen Ding, the world's fourth largest printed circuit board fabricator.

According to the report, Foxconn will work with the Fair Labor Association, a non-governmental organization, to train its workers on the electoral process. Previously, union officials were figureheads for management and the voting process was for show.

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