A protest erupted at the world’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China on Wednesday. Clashes between hundreds of employees and security services have occurred at the factories of Foxconn, a subcontractor of Apple, according to media reports citing social media recordings.
A live broadcast on the Kuaishou Internet showed men with sticks smashing surveillance cameras and breaking windows at a plant of Foxconn, an Apple subcontractor, Reuters reported. The footage shows that the protest erupted when employees discovered the delay in paying bonuses.
The recordings, which have not been independently verified, show crowds of workers shouting: pay us.
They are surrounded by lines of officers in white protective suits, some of whom carry batons and riot police shields.
In one of the videos posted on Twitter, people in white overalls are seen kicking a man lying on the ground. Another video shows protesters directing a jet of liquid from a fire extinguisher at officers.
“Foxconn never treats people like people,” one employee said in a video posted to social media.
Two unnamed Reuters sources familiar with the matter confirmed that there were protests at the Zhengzhou plant on Wednesday but declined to provide details. Some of the protesting workers were beaten or arrested by police, according to the AP news agency.
Outbreak of infections and severe restrictions
Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory, which employs up to 300,000 people according to media reports, faces difficulties related to the outbreak of infections coronavirus and a firm Chinese policy to fight the pandemic. In October, crowds of workers fled the factory from the covid restrictions introduced there.
Many former workers have spoken of food shortages and strict quarantine rules. Foxconn has had to offer incentives, including bonuses, to keep employees.
“They changed the contract so we don’t get the bonuses they promised. They quarantine us but they don’t deliver food,” a Foxconn employee said in a video broadcast live on social media last night. “If they don’t meet our needs, we will continue to fight,” he added.
Apple admitted in early November that its Zhengzhou plant was operating “with significantly reduced production capacity” and as a result, customers would “experience longer wait times” for new products. Chinese media later reported that local authorities had sent rank-and-file Communist Party officials Chin (PCC) and social workers to work in the factory due to manpower shortage.
photo-source">Main photo source: Reuters
