Workers’ revolt at China’s largest iPhone factory – that’s what’s behind it

Smartphone videos released by Beo Weibo and Twitter showed hundreds of Foxconn employees leaving Apple’s main partner’s Zhengzhou factory in broad daylight and protesting in the streets.

What happened?

Workers were seen using sticks to smash surveillance cameras and windows, according to the BBC.

Some protesters were stopped by people in white hazmat suits and riot police.

A clip of live video showed dozens of workers standing in front of a police line and a police vehicle with blue lights flashing at night shouting, “Defend our rights! Defend our rights!” A worker drags a metal barrier across the ground, clouds of smoke rise above a vehicle, and in the background a voice calls:

A photo taken during the day shows the charred remains of a gate that appeared to have burned down during the night.

How is the regime in Beijing reacting?

An informant quoted the BBC as saying there was a heavy police operation at the factory on Wednesday morning.

The keyword “Foxconn riots” was blocked on the main Chinese social media platform Weibo on Wednesday afternoon (local time). However, some texts related to the protests at the Foxconn plant could still be recalled.

What is the reason for the protests?

Several video clips showed workers complaining about the food supply and saying they had not received promised bonuses. A Foxconn employee who recently started working at the Zhengzhou factory said they were protesting because Foxconn had “changed the promised contract,” according to the BBC.

This source also said some newly hired Foxconn employees feared contracting the coronavirus from other employees who had been there during the previous outbreak.

Foxconn recently noted a sharp increase in the number of corona infections at its factory in Zhengzhou, which is why the Taiwanese company closed the factory.

At the end of October, a number of workers fled the site on foot. Some workers complained about the appalling conditions in the factory, which employs hundreds of thousands of people.

Their escape was featured in videos posted on social media platforms as they drove trucks back to their hometowns in other parts of China’s Central Province.

Foxconn did not initially respond to a request from the AFP news agency for comment on the unrest.

At the beginning of November, Apple announced that it expected fewer deliveries of iPhone 14 models due to the production stop in Zhengzhou.

Sources

(dsc/sda/afp)