Protests Erupt At Covid Affected iPhone Manufacturing Facility In China
Large Crowds Clashed With Hazmat-Suited Authorities In Social Media Footage Amid Worker Unrest At The Foxconn Facility – The Largest iPhone Factory In The World!
Images circulating on Weibo and Twitter purported to depict large-scale protests at Foxconn’s enormous iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, central China.
Images circulating on Weibo and Twitter purported to depict large-scale protests at Foxconn’s enormous iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, central China.
On Wednesday, videos showed hundreds of employees protesting on a road in broad daylight, some accosted by riot police and some wearing hazmat suits.
Workers were beaten by police, according to those who were live streaming the protests. Clashes were also captured on video.
Foxconn said it will engage with employees and local governments to stop future violence.
Some videos showed workers complaining about the food they had been provided while others said they had not been paid bonuses as promised.
According to the company’s statement, some employees expressed concerns about their salary, but the company will honour contracts.
It also labelled rumours “patently untrue” that fresh recruits were being forced to share dorms with Covid positive employees!
Local officials cleaned and inspected dorms before new resident workers came in, according to Foxconn.
Rising Covid cases resulted in the plant being shut down last month, compelling some workers to break out and go home.
Many workers departed the facility in late October amid mounting Covid cases and complaints of bad employee treatment, their flight was filmed on social media as they rode lorries back to their hometowns elsewhere in the central Chinese province.
To restore production, the corporation hired new workers with the promise of large incentives. They began a drive to convince workers to stay and to recruit more staff, promising higher per-hour salaries and bonuses.
One clip taken from a live stream showed dozens of workers at night shouting, “Defend our rights! Defend our rights!” as they confronted a row of police officers and a police vehicle with flashing lights, according to news agency AFP. Other workers were seen smashing surveillance cameras and windows with sticks.
As smoke billowed from the truck, one worker dragged a metal roadblock along the ground, as a streamer in the backdrop said, “They are rushing in! Smoke bombs! Tear gas!”, said AFP.
One daytime photograph revealed the charred remnants of a gate that had evidently burnt down during the night.
Reuters was unable to confirm the validity of the footage right away. Foxconn failed to respond immediately to a request for comment.
“They changed the contract so that we could not get the subsidy as they had promised. They quarantine us but don’t provide food,” said one Foxconn worker during his live stream.
“If they do not address our needs, we will keep fighting.”
He also claimed to have seen a man “severely injured” after a beating by police.
He said some newly recruited workers feared getting Covid from staff who had been there during the earlier outbreak.
“Those workers who are protesting are wanting to get a subsidy and return home,” the staff member said.
On Wednesday morning, he added, there was a large police presence at the site. Other live-streamed recordings showed groups of armed police officers at the scene.
Another newly recruited employee told the BBC he visited the protest scene on Wednesday where he saw “one man with blood over his head lying on the ground”.
“I didn’t know the exact reason why people are protesting but they are mixing us, new workers, with old workers who were [Covid] positive,” he told the BBC.
By Wednesday, the Weibo hashtag “Foxconn Riots” appeared to have been banned online, however, some text postings citing large-scale protests at the Foxconn facility remained live.
Due to the Covid situation in Zhengzhou, the manufacturer has maintained so-called closed-loop operations at the facility – a system in which personnel reside and work on-site, insulated from the outside world.
Production has been impacted by the restrictions and resentment, causing Apple to announce earlier this month that it expected lower shipments of premium iPhone 14 models.
With 200,000 workers, the Zhengzhou facility is the world’s largest iPhone manufacturer!
Online sources: theguardian.com, bbc.co.uk
All opinions and views expressed or suggested by the Digital Zeitgeist are not necessarily the same opinions and views held by or suggested by GPM-Invest plus any and all partners, affiliates, parties, or third parties of GPM-Invest. Any type of media distributed by GPM-Invest IS NOT financial advice. Please seek advice from a professional financial advisor.