According to a report from WantChina Times, 300 workers at a Foxconn manufacturing plant in Wuhan, China have threatened to throw themselves off the building's roof after a pay dispute earlier this month (thanks Kotaku). It appears that the people who worked on the Xbox 360 assembly line, were not given a pay rise by Foxconn management. Instead they were given a choice - to remain on at their current wage or to accept compensated dismissal. A lot of the workers agreed to compensated dismissal, albeit Foxconn then withdrew the offer. At that point, the mass suicide threat commenced. The mayor of Wuhan, reportedly, arrived at the scene to help talk the workers down.

Microsoft made an official statement, in response to the story: "Microsoft takes working conditions in the factories that manufacture its products very seriously, and we are currently investigating this issue. We have a stringent Vendor Code of Conduct that spells out our expectations, and we monitor working conditions closely on an ongoing basis and address issues as they emerge. Microsoft is committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors, and to ensuring conformance with Microsoft policy."

Evidently, the name Foxconn has popped up in other similarly baffling stories, with reports of worker suicides in 2010 - eventually, management installed nets on the sides of its buildings to prevent such protests in future... Well, that clearly worked like a charm.