More than 20,000 new workers have left the world’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou. After the owner of the factory is Foxconn Apologized and cleared workers who protested wages that provoked a brawl with riot police. The Foxconn factory is still facing complex issues in its plan to resume full iPhone production at the end of November.
Confrontational protests are rare in China. Violent protests have erupted since Tuesday night, November 22, and have lasted until Wednesday. A group of Foxconn factory workers launched a protest where CCTV cameras were destroyed and the fence demolished… as shown in video footage of police wearing white protective gear holding plastic shields kicking. both using sticks to hit the workers Some protesters fired fire extinguishers at the police.
In addition, there is a clip of police spraying tear gas at protesters. Workers help bring things. Let’s stop the police from coming in. One worker said “Tonight something big happened. No reporters came. We have to uncover the whole thing ourselves.” Another shouted, “Look, tear gas!” Another shouted, “Armed police. All the police from the Special Forces have come!”
The reason for the protests by the workers came from frustration over the delay in the payment of wages under the new agreement. and measures to control COVID-19 too strict From video footage of the protests published on Chinese social media platforms. (Which was quickly deleted.) The workers said they were told Foxconn would delay paying bonuses. Some workers said they were forced to stay in a worker’s dormitory where people became infected with COVID-19.
On Thursday (Nov. 24), Foxconn came out clear, apologizing to the workers. “We investigated the issue and discovered a technical error during the implementation process. We apologize for the typo in the computer system,” Foxconn said in a statement.
Sources in China said. Foxconn has offered 10,000 yuan ($1,400) to new workers who want to quit. It is a subsidy for travel back home.
Reuters cited sources close to the incident as saying More than 20,000 workers, almost all new to the production line, have resigned, pictures published on Chinese social media on Friday showed the workers Be in long line with your bags and wait for the bus to go home.
Another group of workers revealed that they were never sure whether they would be fed or not during quarantine. “Foxconn has never treated us like human beings,” said one worker.
Lwynconn which is a Taiwanese company This is the main supplier of Apple Company. Set up a huge factory in Zhengzhou. the capital of Henan province in Central China There are more than 200,000 workers, the factory area covers an area of about 1.4 million square meters. There are employee sleeping areas, restaurant areas, soccer fields, and many basketball courts. It is the production base for mobile phone sets for Apple, incl iPhone 14 Pro a Pro Max It accounts for up to 70 percent of iPhones shipped worldwide.
When the epidemic of COVID-19 occurs in Zhengzhou in last October. The Foxconn factory has taken intensive control measures. It has been using a closed production operating system since mid-October and the workers live and work in areas cut off from the outside world. Intolerable detention conditions, such as insufficient food poor treatment Gradually tens of thousands of workers fled the factory.
until the beginning of the month Last November, Foxconn announced new employees, offering significantly higher wages than usual. which attracted many workers
Li Sanshan, one of the workers who applied, told the Associated Press that he left his old job when he saw an ad for 25,000 yuan (or about $4,000) for two months after the workers came to work. Instead, the company said they had to work two extra months at a lower rate to earn 25,000 yuan.
Apple Risk iPhone sales are expected to cost around $1 billion a week.
Apple, which has been silent since workers fled the factory In the end, it was revealed that the company has sent staff to the factory. and working closely with Foxconn to help resolve the issue. and dispel any anxiety from employees
Several shareholder activists told Reuters that the protests show the risk that Apple will become too dependent on China.
“Apple is extremely dependent on China. both in the consumer market and the production base We see Apple in a very dangerous position,” said Christina O’Connell, a senior manager at the non-profit group SumOfUs.
A previously published Reuters report said that workers fleeing the factory in November saw production at its Zhengzhou iPhone factory drop by 30 percent in November. iPhone 14 may be smaller than expected
and the resignation of more than 20,000 workers after the protests this week. Foxconn, which plans to return to full production in November, faces another complex problem.
Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, expects production disruptions at the Zhengzhou factory. It can cut iPhone sales down This equates to about $1 billion worth of damage per week.
In October, Henan Province, home to the world’s largest iPhone factory, shipped 8.4 million smartphones, representing a 16.9 percent drop from the 10.2 million units shipped the previous month (September).
