Workers at the world’s largest iPhone factory in China clash with police, videos show | CNN Business

Beijing/Hong Kong
CNN Business
—

Workers at China’s largest iPhone assembly factory were seen clashing with police on Wednesday, some wearing riot gear, according to videos shared on social media.

Videos show hundreds of workers clashing with law enforcement officers, many wearing white hazmat suits, at the Foxconn campus in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou. In the footage, now blocked, some of the protesters could be heard complaining about their pay and health conditions.

The scenes come days after Chinese state media reported that more than 100,000 people had signed up to fill positions advertised as part of a massive recruitment drive for Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant.

Apple ( AAPL ) has faced significant supply chain constraints at assembly facilities and expects iPhone 14 shipments to be affected just as the key holiday shopping season begins. CNN has contacted the company for comment on the situation at the plant.

A Covid outbreak last month forced the site to close, prompting some anxious factory workers to flee.

Videos of many people leaving Zhengzhou on foot had gone viral on Chinese social media in early November, forcing Foxconn to step up measures to get its staff back. To try to limit the fallout, the company said it had quadrupled daily bonuses for workers at the plant this month.

On Wednesday, workers were heard on video saying that Foxconn failed to deliver on its promise of an attractive bonus and pay package after arriving to work at the plant. Numerous complaints have also been posted anonymously on social media platforms, accusing Foxconn of changing previously announced salary packages.

In an English-language statement, Foxconn said on Wednesday that “the benefit has always been fulfilled based on the contractual obligation” after some new hires at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou campus appealed to the company on Tuesday regarding the provision of work.

Workers were also heard in the videos complaining about insufficient anti-Covid measures, saying that workers who tested positive were not separated from the rest of the workforce.

Foxconn said in the English statement that online speculation about Covid-positive employees living in dormitories at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou campus is “patently false.”

“Before new hires move in, the dormitory environment undergoes standard procedures for disinfection, and it is only after the premises pass government inspection that new employees are allowed to enter,” Foxconn said. .

Searches for the term “Foxconn” on Chinese social media now return few results, an indication of heavy censorship.

“Regarding the violent behavior, the company will continue to communicate with employees and the government to prevent similar incidents from occurring again,” Foxconn said in a statement in Chinese.

The Zhengzhou facility is the largest iPhone assembly site in the world. It typically accounts for about 50% to 60% of Foxconn’s global iPhone assembly capacity, according to Mirko Woitzik, global director of intelligence solutions at Everstream, a supply chain risk analysis provider of supply

Apple warned earlier this month of disruption to its supply chain, saying customers would feel an impact.

“We now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated,” the tech giant said in a statement. “Customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products.”

Last week, the wait time for these models had reached 34 days in the United States, according to a UBS report.

Public frustration has been mounting under China’s relentless zero-Covid policy, which continues to involve strict lockdowns and travel restrictions nearly three years after the pandemic.

Last week, that sentiment was on display as images on social media showed residents locked out in Guangzhou tearing down barriers meant to confine them to their homes and taking to the streets in defiance of strictly enforced local orders.

— Michelle Toh, Simone McCarthy, Wayne Chang, Juliana Liu and Kathleen Magramo contributed to this report.