Beijing/Hong Kong
CNN Business
—
Workers at China’s largest iPhone assembly plant faced off with police Wednesday, according to videos shared on social media.
Videos show hundreds of workers, most of them dressed in white hazmat suits, confronting law enforcement at the Foxconn campus in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou. In the now blocked footage, some protesters could be heard complaining about their salaries and health conditions.
Scenes come days later. Chinese state media reported More than 100,000 people have signed up to fill positions announced as part of a massive recruitment campaign for Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory, he said.
Apple
(AAPL) It faces significant supply chain constraints at its assembly plant and expects iPhone 14 shipments to begin just as the crucial holiday shopping season kicks off. CNN contacted the company to comment on the situation at the factory.
A Covid outbreak last month forced the site into lockdown, causing some worried factory workers to flee.
Videos of many people leaving Zhengzhou on foot It had gone viral on Chinese social media in early November, forcing Foxconn to step up measures to take back staff. The company said it quadrupled daily bonuses for workers at the factory this month to limit the fallout.
On Wednesday, workers were heard in the video saying that Foxconn did not deliver on its promise of an attractive bonus and pay package after coming to work at the factory. Numerous complaints accusing Foxconn of altering previously advertised salary packages were also posted anonymously on social media platforms.
Foxconn said Wednesday in English that “the benefit is always fulfilled on a contractual basis” after some new employees at the Foxconn campus in Zhengzhou applied to the company on Tuesday regarding the work allowance.
The videos also featured workers complaining about inadequate Covid measures and saying that workers who tested positive were not separated from the rest of the workforce.
Foxconn said in a statement in English that there was speculation about employees on the Internet. covid Positive living in dormitories on the Foxconn campus in Zhengzhou is “clearly not true.”
“Before new hires move in, the dormitory environment goes through standard disinfection procedures, and new employees are allowed to move in only after the facility has passed government control,” Foxconn said.
Searches for the term “Foxconn” on Chinese social media now yield very few results, indicative of intense censorship.
“With regard to violent behavior, the company will continue to communicate with employees and government to prevent similar incidents from happening again,” Foxconn said in a Chinese statement. said.
The Zhengzhou facility is the world’s largest iPhone assembly facility. It typically accounts for around 50 to 60% of Foxconn’s global iPhone assembly capacity, according to Mirko Woitzik, global director of intelligence solutions at supply chain risk analytics provider Everstream.
Apple warned of disruption to its supply chain earlier this month, saying customers will 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 waiting times to receive their new products.”
As of last week, the waiting time for these models was long. reached 34 days In the United States, according to a report by UBS.
Public frustration is mounting under China’s relentless zero-COVID policy, which continues to impose strict lockdowns and travel restrictions nearly three years after the pandemic.
Last week, this sentiment was showcased as social media images shown In Guangzhou, tearing down barriers for residents in isolation meant confining them to their homes and taking to the streets against strictly enforced local orders.
— Michelle Toh, Simone McCarthy, Wayne Chang, Juliana Liu, and Kathleen Magramo contributed to this report.
